THG AGRICULTURAL 

• PAPGRS OF * 
GGORGG WASHINGTON 




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STUDIES IN 
AMERICAN HISTORY 



Beaumarchais, and the War of 
American Independence. Two vol- 
umes. Illustrated., By Elizabeth 8. 
Kite. 

The Political History of the Pub- 
lic Lands, from 1840 to 1862. From 
Pre-emption to Homestead. By 
George M. Stephenson, 

Georgia as a Proprietary Province 
— The Execution of a Trust. By 
James Boss McCain. 

Lincoln, the Politician. By T. 
Aaron Levy. 

The Agricultural Papers of George 
Washington. Edited by Walter 
Edwin Brooke, 

The Story of the Santa Fe. By 
Glenn D, Bradley. 



RICHARD G. BADGER, PUBLISHER, BOSTON 



THE AGRICULTURAL PAPERS 
OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 



EDITED BY 

WALTER EDWIN BROOKE, Ph.B. 

Late Assistant Professor of Economics and Sociology, 
Agricultural College of Utah, Logan, Utah 




BOSTON 

RICHARD G. BADGER 

THE GORHAM PRESS 



COPYBIGHT, 1919, BY RlCHABD G. BADGEB 



All Rights Reserved 



Made in the United States of America 



The Gorham Press, Boston, U.S.A. 



MAR 10 1S19 , ^ 

©CI.A512550 iii-n'm' 



.y-t-lO I 



This little collection of agricultural letters is dedi- 
cated to all those Farmers who admire the great 
industry, the unfailing modesty, and the sin- 
cerity of purpose that characterized every 
word and action of our national hero, 
George Washington. 



FOREWORD BY THE PUBLISHER 

We regret exceedingly to be obliged to announce the death 
of Professor Walter Edmund Brooke which took place on 
October 2, 1918, while his book was in the process of pub- 
lication. The compilation of this volume, however, was en- 
tirely his own work and was, in fact, the last thing he did, 
for the sole purpose of elevating and dignifying agriculture 
by showing the intelligent interest and application of what 
were in George Washington's time only the crude principles 
of what is now modern and scientific agriculture. 

We feel sure that the readers of this volume will be inter- 
ested in the following brief biography. Any one who had the 
pleasure of knowing Professor Brooke will need no eulogy 
of his splendid achievements. 

Walter Edwin Brooke was born April 16, 1885, at Ply- 
mouth, Indiana, where he spent his boyhood days. Coming 
to Salt Lake with his parents, he entered upon his educa- 
tional career in the Salt Lake public schools and graduated 
from the high school in 1904. 

After two years spent at Armour Institute of Technology 
at Chicago, he entered Yale. It was here that his widely 
known interest in young men and their problems was culti- 
vated. During his five years at Yale he became very deeply 
interested in the welfare of his companions. Realizing that 
there lacked much to interest and hold young men when not at 
study or recitation, he made bold to approach certain of the 
faculty on the subject and asked to be permitted to try out 
a scheme to hold them under the influence of good teachers 
and companions. 

▼ii 



viii Foreword 

He spent much of his time and energy collecting money 
with which to make the fine Y. M. C. A. building known as 
Byers Hall, a homelike place for the students to gather. The 
furnishings, lights and pictures were details which did not 
escape his careful planning. But the main attraction was 
the wonderful fireplaces with their bright and cheerful log 
fires. Here he gathered around him his first group of 
staunch student friends, many of whom remained his regular 
correspondents to the day of his death. So engrossing was 
this work for young men that he remained to complete two 
years of post-graduate study, during which time he special- 
ized in sociology and economics. 

In 1913 he returned to Salt Lake and the following year 
entered upon his life work of teaching, as an instructor at the 
Agricultural College at Logan. In this he was eminently 
successful and his promotion in the faculty of economics was 
rapid. His loss to that department will be a severe one. 

But the great contribution which Walter Brooke made 
to the life of the institution was in his personal relations with 
the students, especially the boys at the Agricultural College. 
As chairman of the committee on student affairs, he early as- 
sumed a prominent place in promoting the student activities, 
helping to plan and carry through the numerous entertain- 
ments and social affairs which have so large a place in the 
college life. He represented the faculty's interest in the life 
of the student body in a most substantial manner. In the 
development of the athletic activity of the A. C. he also took 
an enthusiastic part. No one, not even excepting the 
coaches, contributed more to the recent splendid advance in 
athletics in Logan. He gave freely of his time to encourage 
the members of the teams, and by his personal touch with 
them one by one helped to put a fine new spirit into them, 
which the records of the past three years plainly attest. 



Foreword ix 

He was also secretary of the committee on attendance and 
scholarship and had much to do with the order and discipline 
of the students ; but what he might have managed by the au- 
thority of his position, he preferred to do and do more tell- 
ingly by the influence of his personal friendship for the men. 
It was his friendly talks and his sympathetic understanding 
of them that helped the students realize and keep their re- 
sponsibility toward the college and its rules. 

Most of all will Walter Brooke be remembered by the 
scores and hundreds whom he has helped in many ways. 
Many a boy could not have finished his course had Prof. 
Brooke not interceded at home ; many a boy would have given 
up his college life in discouragement, if Prof. Brooke had 
not encouraged him to continue and showed him the way to 
succeed; many of the young men had no one to whom they 
could take their problems and difficulties for advice except 
Walter E. Brooke. It called for long and tiring days and 
evenings, but to him the work was well worth while. And he 
made a unique place for himself in the life of the Agricultural 
College as the students' unfailing friend — a place which will 
be difficult to refill. His aim in life was not to make dollars 
but to make friends. 



PREFACE 

In the preparation of this collection of Washington's let- 
ters, the editor wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to 
Miss Johanna Sprague, Librarian of the Salt Lake Public 
Library, for valuable assistance in making much important 
material easier of access than is common with public libra- 
ries. To Mrs. Gail North Parks, the editor is indebted for 
the very thorough and careful work in copying the text of 
these letters, and for several suggestions as to their arrange- 
ment. 

Mr. Walter Cook has placed the editor under obligation 
for liis painstaking work in copying the map of the Mount 
Vernon Estate from a very faded and discolored print. The 
editor is also grateful to Mr. Lowry Nelson for much valu- 
able criticism of the editorial work; and to Mr. Allen Mar- 
tineau and Mr. Sidney Spencer for careful assistance in re- 
reading the manuscripts and proofs. 

W. E. B. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

1 Extract feom Washington's Agricultural 

Diary 17 

2 To Arthur Young (of England) .... £1 

3 To Arthur Young (of England) .... 36 

4 To Thomas Peters 29 

5 To Clement Biddle 31 

6 To Theodoric Bland 34 

7 To Arthur Young (of England) .... 37 

8 To Richard Peters 42 

9 To John Fairfax 44 

10 To George A. Washington 47 

11 Specimen Statements of Crops 62 

Specimen Reports of the Manager ... 68 

12 To Anthony Whiting 73 

13 To Arthur Young (of England) .... 81 

14 To Thomas Jefferson 92 

15 To James McHenry 96 

16 To William Strickland, in England ... 98 

17 To James Anderson, Manager of the Farms . 106 

18 Four Tables of Crop Rotation 128 

19 Extract from Washington's Diary .... 141 



xhi 



INTRODUCTION 

During the past four years, the pursuits of peace are 
made to stand out in sharp contrast with the Great War 
that is now being waged in Europe. The fields, that until 
four years ago produced crops of waving grain, and served 
to support the great population of men in industry, are 
now furrowed v/ith trenches. These furrows are not plowed 
for planting, but dug by men so that they might the more 
efficiently massacre each other. Nor are these furrows filled 
by the decayed vegetable matter with which the thrifty Eu- 
ropean farmer was in the habit of enriching his fields. They 
are now fertilized by rows and rows of the nameless who 
have fallen where they fought, to die unrecognized, fit only 
to replenish the soil that their sons may reap greater crops 
of grain. 

Standing in sharp contrast to this gruesome picture are 
those peaceful pursuits of the countries not yet devastated 
by this terrible conflict. The agricultural activities of the 
American Farmer seem just now to attract with twice the 
force the interest of the peace-loving citizen. Especially 
has this been true since we are realizing how important a 
factor food is in winning a war. Today every sinew of this 
nation is being tightened up to the successful accomplish- 
ment of our part in the great world drama being staged 
upon the battlefields of Europe, in order that we may safe- 
guard the principle of democracy so dear to the American 
people. And we know that to produce food enough for our- 

XV 



xvi IntrodiLction 

selves and our suffering friends overseas is now as vital an 
undertaking as the manufacture of munitions, or the train- 
ing of men. 

Then, too, a greater interest in farming had already begun 
to manifest itself among the American people before this 
war. It, no doubt, came as a reaction to the excessive de- 
votion of the people to the industrial life of the city. This 
fact, together with the responsibilities which the war has 
placed upon the farmer, led the present editor of these 
papers to think it especially timely and fitting to present to 
the public this selection from the choicest collection of let- 
ters on agriculture that the literature of this nation pos- 
sesses. 

Our school histories have told us that George Washington 
was " first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of 
his countrymen." However we may try to vary the expres- 
sion of this thought, the idea still remains fixed in our minds. 
It has been generally accepted as a statement of fact. Now, 
it seems perfectly clear that George Washington was " first 
in war " ; that, though he did not rush his countrymen into 
conflict, he was nevertheless ready to lead them in their fight 
against oppression. It is also quite evident that he is " first 
in the hearts of his countrymen." 

But is it entirely clear just how Washington was " first 
in peace "? True, he set to work willingly and at great 
sacrifice to help frame the constitution, and later, to con- 
struct a government upon it that should stand as a new 
nation, capable of self-government, and capable of defending 
its integrity against stronger and older nations. But be- 
sides the absorbing interest which he seems to have had in 
the civil aff^airs of the country, is it generally known that 
he possessed an interest in agriculture, wliich easily rivalled 
his great devotion to military and governmental affairs? 



Introdtiction xvii 

Is it just as evident that he was one of the first scientific 
farmers of the country? 

I confess that until I began the simple research that this 
volume represents, I did not know that Washington took 
more than a passing interest in agricultural activities, and 
I submit that I am an average reader. Moreover, I have 
frequently inquired of others who are far more widely read^ 
and have found that they, too, knew little of the keen and 
intelligent interest which George Washington had in agri- 
culture itself. They do not know that he was one of the 
half dozen best informed men in England and America on 
crop-rotation, and soil fertilizers. He, with Thomas Jef- 
ferson, and Arthur Young of England stood foremost in 
writing and experimentation in agriculture. These three 
men were in correspondence with each other for a long time ; 
they took pains to try out new ideas, and to exchange their 
experiences. 

Besides being the careful observer, that he was, of men 
and their ways, he also watched very closely the weather 
and crop conditions. Every day, he carefully recorded in 
his diary the temperature, the state of the weather, and the 
forecast of the barometer. 

He also kept accounts and knew very accurately, for those 
days, whether or not a certain field or farm was paying, or 
losing. It will surprise the average reader to see with what 
care he managed his business of farming. 

So it is with the intention of presenting this new aspect of 
George Washington's life to a nation, whose fundamental 
interests are agricultural and industrial, that I have selected 
the following letters. They take us back a century and a 
quarter. We are immediately impressed with the great 
similarity between many of the problems encountered then 
and those being met today. And, at the same time, we are 



xviii Introdtiction 

struck by the contrasts in methods adopted to solve those 
problems, then, and now. 

In this collection of Washington's letters, an effort has 
been made to include only those that exhibit some interesting 
phase of his farming activities. Viewing them from a bio- 
graphical standpoint, it may be well to point out that the 
only accurate way to study the personality of any historical 
character is to read his letters. They do not suffer from 
the varnish of biographical treatment. They stand at their 
face value, and reveal more intimately than any other writ- 
ings can, the real man, as he lived and thought. 

It is the editor's hope that the reader will lose himself 
in the fascinating letters of our first true American, and 
forget that they have been edited. The comments are in- 
tended to be mere guide-posts to a few of the interesting 
features of the letters that may appeal to the American 
reader. 

It may be fitting to suggest further that Woodrow Wil- 
son's " Life of George Washington " ^ will give an excellent 
biographical background for these letters, standing out from 
the large number of such biographies because of President 
Wilson's very human, and almost intimate portrayal of 
Washington's life. 

Walter Edwin Brooke. 

Logan, Utah, June 23rd, 1918. 

1 Harpers, New York. 



THE AGRICULTURAL PAPERS 
OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 



I 



i 



THE AGRICULTURAL PAPERS OF 
GEORGE WASHINGTON 



APRIL, 7th-15th, 1785 

This extract from Washington's diary gives us an excellent 
example of the care he took to record his agricultural activi- 
ties, and of the thoughtful attitude he seems to have had to- 
ward his occupation as a farnler. 

It may be interesting to note here, too, that these entries 
were made in his diary about two years after the close of the 
Revolutionary War. 

EXTRACT FROM WASHINGTON'S AGRICULTURAL 

DIARY 

April 7th, 1785. — Cut two or three rows of the wheat 
(Cape wheat) within six inches of the ground, it being near 
eighteen inches high, that which was first sown, and the 
blades of the whole singed with the frost. 

8th. — Sowed oats today in drills at Muddy Hole with 
my barrel plough.^ Ground much too wet; some of it had 
been manured, but had been twice ploughed, then listed, then 
twice harrowed before sowing ; which, had it not been for the 
frequent rains, would have put the ground in fine tilth. 
Ploughed up the turnip patch at home for orchard grass. 

1 See page 1, Selection No. 34 for a more complete account of this im- 
plement. 

17 



18 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

10th. — Began bricklaying today. Completed sowing, 
with twenty-four quarts of oats, thirty-eight rows at Muddy 
Hole ten feet apart, in the ground intended for corn. 

11th. — Sowed twenty-six rows of barley in the same field 
at Muddy Hole in the same manner, with the drill plough, 
and with precisely the same workings the oats had adjoining 
thereto. This was done with twelve quarts of seed. After 
three ploughings and three harrowings, sowed millet in 
eleven rows three feet apart, opposite to the overseer's house 
in the Neck. Perceived the last sowed oats at Dogue Run, 
and those sown in the Neck, were coming up. 

12th. — Sowed sixteen acres of Siberian wheat, with eight- 
een quarts, in rows between corn, eight feet apart. This 
ground had been prepared in the following manner. 1. A 
single furrow; 2. another in the same to deepen it; 3. four 
furrows to throw the earth back into the two first, which 
made ridges of five furrows. These, being done some time 
ago, and the sowing retarded by frequent rains, had got hard ; 
therefore, 4. before the seed was sown, these ridges were 
split again by running twice in the middle of them, both 
times in the same furrow; 5. after which the ridges w^ere 
harrowed ; and, 6. where the ground was lumpy, run a spiked 
roller with a harrow at the tail of it, which was found very 
eflScacious in breaking the clods and pulverizing the earth, 
and would have done it perfectly, if there had not been too 
much moisture remaining from the late rains. After this, 
harrowing and roUing where necessary, the wheat was sown 
with the drill plough on the reduced ridges eight feet apart, 
as above mentioned, and harrowed in with the small harrow 
belonging to the plough. But it should have been observed, 
that, after the ridges were split by the middle double fur- 
rows, and before they were closed again by the harrow, a 
little manure was sprinkled in them. 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 19 

At Dogue Run, listing the ground intended for Siberian 
wheat, barley, &c., a second time. 

At Muddy Hole sowed with the drill plough two rows of 
the Albany pease between the corn rows, to see whether they 
would come to any thing for want of the support which 
they give one another when sown broad-cast. The same man- 
agement given the ground as for oats and barley at this 
place. 

13th. — Sowed oats in drills ten feet apart, between corn 
rows in the Neck, twenty-four rows, in the following manner. 
1. A single furrow; 2. another and deep furrow in this; 3. 
four bouts to these ; 4. ploughed again in the same manner ; 5. 
a single furrow in the middle of these; 6. manure sprinkled 
in this furrow; 7. the great harrow over all these; and, 8. 
the seed sowed after the harrow with the drill or barrel 
plough, and harrowed in with the harrow at the tail of it. 
Note. — It should have been observed, that the field intended 
for experiments at this plantation is divided into three 
parts, by bouting rows running crosswise; and that manure, 
and the last single furrow, are (at least for the present) be- 
stowed on the most westerly of those nearest the Barn. 

14th. — Harrowed the ground at Muddy Hole, which had 
been twice ploughed, for Albany pease in broad-cast. At 
Dogue Run began to sow the remainder of the Siberian 
wheat, about fourteen quarts, which had been left at the 
Ferry; run deep furrows in the middle, and made five-feet 
ridges. Did the same for carrots in the same field on the 
west side next the meadow. Ordered a piece of ground, two 
acres, to be ploughed at the Ferry around the old corn- 
house, to be drilled with corn and potatoes between, each 
ten feet apart, row from row of the same kind. Sowed in 
the Neck, or rather planted, next to the eleven rows of 
millet, thirty-five rows of rib-grass seeds, three feet apart. 



W The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

and one foot asunder in the rows. 

15th. — Sowed six bushels of the Albany pease broad-cast 
at Muddy Hole, on about an acre and a half of ground, which 
was harrowed yesterday as mentioned above. 

Sowed in the Neck along side of the rib-grass fifty rows 
of burnet seed, exactly as the last was put in; that is, in 
three feet rows, and one foot in the row. 



ARTHUR YOUNG ^ (of England) August 6, 1786. 

This is an excellent letter to show Washington's great in- 
terest and enthusiasm in agriculture. In the third para- 
graph, he makes some rather pointed criticisms of the atti- 
tude then commonly held toward anything new in agriculture, 
and the reasons which may account for it. 

The twentieth century farmer will be interested in the list 
of seeds which Washington orders from England to try out 
on his land. 

TO ARTHUR YOUNG (OF ENGLAND) 

Mount Vernon, 6 August, 1786. 
Sir, 

I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 7th of 
January from Bradiield Hall in Suffolk, and thank you 
for opening a correspondence, the advantages of which will 
be so much in my favor. 

Agriculture has ever been among the most favored of my 
amusements, though I never have possessed much skill in 
the art, and nine years' total inattention to it has added 
nothing to a knowledge, which is best understood from prac- 
tice; but, with the means you have been so obliging as to 

1 Arthur Young was the first Secretary of the National Board of Agri- 
culture, established in England, 1793. He was one of the greatest Eng- 
lish writers on agriculture, and carried into that field the spirit which we 
generally associate with the great revolution of manufacture. He was 
indefatigable in observation, inquiries, researches, and experiments. His 
works on agriculture have been translated into French, German, and 
Russian. 

21 



22 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

furnish me, I shall return to it, though rather late in the 
day, with more alacrity than ever. 

The system of agriculture, if it deserves the epithet of 
system, which is in use in this part of the United States, is 
as unproductive to the practitioners, as it is ruinous to the 
landholders. Yet it is pertinaciously adhered to. To for- 
sake it; to pursue a course of husbandry, which is alto- 
gether different, and new to the gazing multitude, ever 
averse to novelty in matters of this sort, and much attached 
to the customs of their forefathers, requires resolution, and, 
without a good practical guide, may be dangerous ; because, 
of the many volumes which have been written on this subject, 
few have been founded on experimental knowledge; are ver- 
bose, contradictory, and bewildering. Your " Annals," there- 
fore, shall be this guide. The plan on which they are pub- 
lished gives them a reputation, which inspires confidence ; and 
for the favor of sending them to me, I pray you to accept 
my very best acknowledgments. To continue them will add 
much to the obligation. 

To evince with what avidity and with how little reserve I 
embrace the polite and friendly offer you have made, of 
supplying me with " men, cattle, tools, seeds, or any thing 
else that may add to my rural amusements," I will give you the 
trouble. Sir, of providing, and sending to the care of Wakelin 
Welch, of London, merchant, the following articles. 
' Two of the simplest and best constructed ploughs for 
land, which is neither very heavy nor sandy ; to be drawn by 
two horses ; to have spare shares and coulters ; and a mould, 
on which to form new irons, when the old ones are worn out, 
or will require repairing. I will take the liberty to observe, 
that some years ago, from a description or recommendation 
thereof, which I had somewhere met with, I sent to Eng- 
land for what was then called the Rotherham or patent 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 23 

plough; and, till it began to wear and was ruined by a 
bungling country smith, that no plough could have done 
better work, or appeared to have gone easier with two horses ; 
but for want of a mould, which I neglected to order with 
the plough, it became useless, after the irons, which came 
with it, were much worn. 

A little of the best kind of cabbage seed for field culture. 

Twent}^ pounds of the best turnip seed. 

Ten bushels of sainfoin seed.^ 

Eight bushels of the winter vetches. 

Two bushels of rye-grass seed. 

Fifty pounds of hop-clover seed. 

And if it is decided (for much has been said for and against 
it), that burnet, as an early food, is valuable, I should be 
glad of one bushel of this seed also. Red clover seed is to 
be had on easy terms in this country; but if there are any 
other kinds of grass seeds, not included in the above, that 
you may think valuable, especially for early seeding or cut- 
ting, you would oblige me by adding a small quantity of the 
seeds, to put me in stock. Early grasses, unless a species 
can be found that will stand a hot sun, and oftentimes 
severe droughts in the summer months, without much ex- 
pense of cultivation, would suit our climate best. 

You see. Sir, that, with very little ceremony, I avail my- 

1 Sainfoin or Asperset. " A leguminous plant (Onobrychis Sativa) 
originating in the Mediterranean Countries, but which has been culti- 
vated for centuries. The stem is about two feet high, with pinnate leaves, 
composed of small leaflets; the pea-like flowers are rather large and of 
a showy pink color, and are disposed in short spikes, on long axillary 
peduncles. It is a nutritious fodder, well-liked by livestock, especially 
sheep, makes good hay, and will grow on light, warm, chalky soils where 
other pasturage does not thrive. The roots are long-lived and are use- 
ful for binding light soils, while the foliage not only shades the pastures, 
but makes a good crop for plowing under. It is also recommended as a 
honey-producing plant for bee pastures." 

— " The American Encyclopedia," Last Ed., 1904-1906. 



^4 The Agricvltural Papers of George Washijigton 

self of your kind offer ; but, should you find, in the course of 
our correspondence, that I am likely to become troublesome, 
you can easily check me. Enclosed I give you an order upon 
Wakelin Welch for the cost of such things as you may have 
the goodness to send me. I do not, at this time, ask for 
any other implements of husbandry than the plough; but 
when I have read your " Annals " (for they are but just come 
to hand), I may request more. In the meantime, permit me 
to ask what a good ploughman may be had for at annual 
wages; to be found (being a single man) in board, lodging, 
and washing? The writers upon husbandry estimate the hire 
of laborers so differently in England, that it is not easy to 
discover from them, whether one of the class I am speaking 
of would cost eight or eighteen pounds a year. A good 
ploughman at low wages would come very opportunely with 
the plough I have requested. 

By means of the application to my friend, Mr. Fairfax 
of Bath, and through the medium of Mr. Rack, a bailiff is 
sent to me, who, if he is acquainted with the best courses of 
cropping, will answer my purposes as a director or superin- 
tendent of my farms. He has the appearance of a plain hon- 
est farmer; is industrious, and from the character given 
him by a Mr. Peacy, with whom he has lived many years, is 
understanding in the management of stock, and of most 
matters for which he is employed. How far his abilities 
may be equal to a pretty extensive concern, is questionable. 
And, what is still worse, he has come over with improper 
ideas ; for, instead of preparing his mind for a ruinous course 
of cropping, exhausted lands, and numberless inconveniences 
into which we had been thrown by an eight years' war, he 
seems to have expected, that he was coming to well-organized 
farms, and that he was to meet ploughs, harrows, and all 
the different implements of husbandry, in as high a state as 



The Agricvltural Papers of George Washington 25 

the best farming counties in England could have exhibited 
them. How far his fortitude will enable him to encounter 
these disappointments, or his patience and perseverance will 
carry him towards effecting a reform, remains to be decided. 
With great esteem, I have the honor to be, Sir, &c. 



ARTHUR YOUNG (of England) November 15, 1786. 

This letter stands as an appendix to the previous one. It 
possesses particular interest to us because of the description 
it contains of the soil about Mount Vernon. 

Washington also makes a request for a " plan of the most 
complete and useful farm-3^ard, for farms of about five hun- 
dred acres." 



TO ARTHUR YOUNG (OF ENGLAND) 

Mount Vernon, 15 November, 1786. 
Sir, 

The enclosed is a duplicate of the letter I had the honor 
of writing to you the 6th of August. The evil genius of the 
vessel by which it was sent, which had detained her many 
weeks in this country after the letters intended to go by her 
were ready agreeably to the owner's appointment, pursued 
her to sea, and obliged the captain, when many days out, by 
the leaky condition in which she appeared, to return to an 
American port. The uncertainty of his conduct, with re- 
spect to the letters, is the apology I offer for giving you 
the trouble of the enclosed. 

Since the date of it, I have had much satisfaction in perus- 
ing the " Annals of Agriculture," which you did me the 
honor to send me. If the testimony of my approbation, 
Sir, of your disinterested conduct and perseverance in pub- 
lishing so useful and beneficial a work (than which nothing 

26 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 27 

in my opinion can be more conducive to the welfare of your 
country) will add aught to the satisfaction you must feel 
from the conscious discharge of this interesting duty to it, I 
give it with equal willingness and sincerity. 

In addition to the articles, which my last requested the 
favor of you to procure me, I pray you to have the goodness 
of forwarding what follows ; 

Eight bushels of what you call velvet wheat, of which I per- 
ceive you are an admirer. 

Four bushels of beans, of the kind you most approve for 
the purposes of a farm. 

Eight bushels of the best kind of spring barley. 

Eight bushels of the best kind of oats. 

And eight bushels of sainfoin seed. All to be in good 
sacks. 

My soil will come under the description of loam; with 
a hard clay, or (if it had as much of the properties as the 
appearance, it might be denominated) marl, from eighteen 
inches to three feet below the surface. The heaviest soil I 
have, would hardly be called a stiff or binding clay in Eng- 
land; and none of it is a blowing sand. The sort, which 
approaches nearest the former, is a light grey; and that to 
the latter, of a yellow red. In a word, the staple has 
been good, but, by use and abuse, it is brought into bad 
condition. 

I have added this information. Sir, that you may be bet- 
ter able to decide on the kind of seed most proper for my 
farm. 

Permit me to ask one thing more. It is to favor me 
with your opinion, and a plan, of the most complete and 
useful farm-yard, for farms of about five hundred acres. 
In this I mean to comprehend the barn, and every appur- 
tenance which ought to be annexed to the yard. The sim- 



a Tk, Agrie^l'Ta Fcper. of O.or,. W^.l^^ 
Lea U.e ».uj.iU. ^«^ ; ti .rtL, .. b...r.. H. 



4 

THOMAS PETERS (of Baltimore) December 4, 1786. 

In this letter, Washington makes urgent request of a mer- 
chant in Baltimore for some good spring barley seed. He 
tells of its scarcity around Mount Vernon, and of his anxiety 
to get some. He also makes some inquiries regarding clover 
seed, objecting to the imported kind. 

TO THOMAS PETERS (OF BALTIMORE) 

Mount Vernon, 4 December, 1786. 
Sir, 

Your letter of the 18th ultimo came duly to hand. From 
the number of fruitless inquiries I had made after spring 
barley before I applied to you, and the intervention, between 
the date of my letter and your answer, being considerable, 
I despaired of obtaining any of this grain ; and therefore 
seeded the ground, which was at first designated for this 
crop, with wheat and rye. 

I have also since heard, that many gentlemen, who have 
tried it (especially some on West River, where I know the 
lands are very fine, and such as I thought well adapted to 
this grain), do not find it answerable to their expectation. 
Nevertheless, as I wish to divide my seed-time, and am de- 
sirous of sowing clover and other grasses with barley, in 
preference to other grain, I would gladly take fifty bushels of 
it, and will depend absolutely upon you for this quantity, 
which I pray may be sent to me, as soon as it can be ob- 
tained, by the packet. With respect to the latter I am 

29 



so Tlie Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

anxious, because, having the seed in my possession, I can pre- 
pare accordingly, and not postpone my oat season in expec- 
tation of a barley one, and be disappointed at last, as was 
the case last year. 

If I find this essay likely to answer my expectation, I shall 
be better able to talk with you on a contract. The barley 
may be accompanied by the machine you speak of, as eli- 
gible for cleaning it, and I shall thank you for sending one. 
Let me know decidedly, if you please, whether I may depend 
upon the above quantity, in the manner mentioned. I have 
it now in my power (for it is offered to me) to get what I 
want from a brewer in Philadelphia, but I may even fail there, 
if your answer is delayed. 

Can good clover seed (not imported seed, for that rarely is 
so), be bought at Baltimore? In what quantity, and at what 
price? There is not, I believe, a bushel of barley, of any 
kind, in this neighbourhood for sale. A Mr. Wales, who 
brews in Alexandria, gets all of this he can. I am, Sir, &c. 



5 

CLEMENT BIDDLE (of Philadelphia) December 5, 1786 

The day after his letter to Peters, this was written to a 
merchant of Philadelphia. These two letters were included 
principally to show two traits of Washington's character 
which must account in great measure for his success in life ; 
namely, his ^persistence and his great fore-sight. He is still 
in search of spring barley and clover seed. It is very evident 
that he was not the man to " put all of his eggs into one 
basket." He was going to take no chances by depending on 
one man. Therefore, in order to be on the safe side, he makes 
another order for seed from Biddle. 

TO CLEMENT JBK)DLE (OF PHILADELPHIA) 

Mount Vernon, 5 December, 1786. 
Dear Sir, 

For your trouble in negotiating my certificate I thank you. 
If it is necessary, in order that you may receive the half- 
yearly interest thereon, I would wish you to keep it; if you 
can draw this without, it may be returned to me. In the 
mean time, inform me, if you please, if this certificate can be 
converted into cash, and upon what terms ; that, if I should 
have occasion to make any purchases in Philadelphia, I may 
know the amount of this fund. The indents, to the amount 
of eighty-four dollars, I have received, and note the credit 
given me for the year and half interest. 

The curtain stuff and nails are at hand safe, and will an- 
swer very well. The uncertainty of getting good spring 

31 



32 The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 

barley (for I had made many fruitless inquiries in this State, 
and the parts of Maryland bordering on it, before I wrote 
to you), induced me to put the ground, which I had first al- 
lotted for this grain, into wheat and rye; but, if you could 
secure and send to me, by one of the first vessels bound 
from your port to Alexandria, fifty bushels, I will yet find 
as much ground as will receive this quantity of seed; or, 
if you have engaged one hundred bushels of this grain from 
Reuben Haines, as the expression of your letter seems to 
import, I will readily take it, but would not choose to be 
under any promise of supplying him with the produce of it ; 
first, because being uncertain of the yield, and inclining 
to go pretty largely upon it if I find it likely to answer my 
purpose, I shall want a good deal for seed; and, secondly, 
because the freight around, it is to be feared, would sink 
too deep in the scales to render me any profit upon a small 
quantity. 

The clover seed, as I conceived this had been a productive 
year of it, is high; yet I would beg you to send me three 
hundred weight. As soon as I know the precise cost of 
this, and the barley, the money shall be remitted; or, if you 
have any dealings in Alexandria, and an order on me will 
answer your purposes equally as well, it shall be immediately 
paid. 

If it is the same thing to Mr. Haines, whether I take 
fifty or a hundred bushels, I shall, under the circumstances 
already mentioned, prefer the former quantity. It is so 
essential to every farmer to have his seeds by him in time, 
that I would urge in strong terms, that these now acquired 
be sent to me by the first good water conveyance. The 
uncertainties and disappointments of last spring will always 
make me anxious to obtain all my seeds long before the sea- 
son for sowing them shall have arrived. At any rate, let 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 33 

me know by post what it is I have to expect. Best wishes 
attend Mrs. Biddle. I am, dear Sir, &c. 

P. S. Is the Jerusalem artichoke to be had in the neigh- 
borhood of Philadelphia? Could as much of the root, or 
the seed, be got as would stock an acre? I want to bring 
it in with my other experiments for the benefit of stock. 



1 



THEODORIC BLAND December 28, 1786. 

We have here an interesting account of a " drill-plow " 
over which Washington was very enthusiastic. Apparently 
it was a very early form of our modern drill for planting 
grains. 

In his Agricultural Diary for April 8th, 1785, he refers to 
this same implement as a " barrel-plough." (See p. 17.) 

TO THEODORIC BLAND 

Mount Vernon, 28 December, 1786. 
Dear Sir, 

I am now about ta fulfil my promise with respect to the 
drill plough and timothy seed. Both accompany this letter 
to Norfolk, to the care of Mr. Newton. The latter I pre- 
sume is good, as I had it from a gentleman on whom I can de- 
pend. The former, it is scarcely necessary to inform you, 
will not work to good effect in land that is very full either 
of stumps, stones, or large clods ; but, where the ground is 
tolerably free from these and in good tilth, and particularly 
in light land, I am certain you will find it equal to your most 
sanguine expectation, for Indian corn, wheat, barley, pease, 
or any other tolerably round grain, that you may wish to 
sow, or plant in this manner. I have sown oats very well with 
it, which is among the most inconvenient and unfit grains for 
this machine. 

To give you a just idea of the use and management of it, 
I must observe, that the barrel at present has only one set 

34 



♦ i 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 35 

of holes, and those adapted for the planting of Indian corn, 
only eight inches apart in the row ; but, by corking these, the 
same barrel may receive others, of a size fitted for any other 
grain. To make the holes, observe this rule; begin small 
and increase the size, till they admit the number of grains, 
or thereabouts, you would choose to deposit in a place. They 
should be burnt, and done by a gauge, that all may be of a 
size, and made widest on the outside, to prevent the seeds 
choking them. You may, in a degree, emit more or less 
through the same holes, by increasing or lessening the quan- 
tity of seed in the barrel. The less there is in it, the faster it 
issues. The compressure is increased by the quantity, and 
the discharge is retarded thereby. The use of the band is 
to prevent the seeds issuing out of more holes than one at a 
time. It may be slackened or braced according to the influ- 
ence the atmosphere has on the leather. The tighter it is, 
provided the wheel revolves easily, the better. By decreas- 
ing or multiplying the holes in the barrel, you may plant at 
any distance you please. The circumference of the wheels 
being six feet, or seventy-two inches, divide the latter by the 
number of inches you intend your plants shall be asunder, and 
it gives the number of holes required in the barrel. 

By the sparse situation of the teeth in the harrow, it is 
designed that the ground may be raked without the harrow be- 
ing clogged, if the ground should be cloddy or grassy. The 
string, when this happens to be the case, will raise and clear 
it with great ease, and is of service in turning at the ends of 
rows ; at which time the wheels, by means of handles, are 
raised off the ground, as well as the harrow, to prevent the 
waste of seed. A small bag, containing about a peck of the 
seed you are sowing, is hung to the nails on the right handle, 
and with a small tin cup the barrel is replenished with con- 
venience, whenever it is necessary, without loss of time, or 



36 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

waiting to come up with the seed-bag at the end of the row. 
I had almost forgot to tell you, that, if the hole in the 
leather band, through which the seed is to pass, when it comes 
in contact with the hole in the barrel, should incline to gape, 
or the lips of it turn out, so as to admit the seed between 
the band and barrel, it must be remedied by riveting a piece 
of sheet tin, copper, or brass, the width of the band, and 
about four inches long, with a hole through it, the size of the 
one in the leather. I found this effectual. I am, dear Sir, 
&c. 



ARTHUR YOUNG November 1, 1787. 

Another trait of Washington's character, — one which en- 
deared him to many of his countrymen at that time, is illus- 
trated in the following letter. He had been away from home 
for four months presiding over the famous Constitutional 
Convention of 1787, which had been in session from May 
14th, until September 17th. To have presided over the fa- 
mous Convention which was to give our country a fresh start 
upon a firmer footing was one of the greatest honors that 
could have come to an American citizen at that time ; and yet, 
with his unfailing modesty, Washington merely says : " An 
absence of more than four months from home, will be the best 
apology I can make for my silence till this time." How many 
men could have desisted from making some reference, however 
indirectly, to an undertaking which obviously had been very 
vital to the country's welfare, and which was destined to give 
him more honor than he already had received. Such is the 
measure of a truly great man. 

This letter also contains a concise statement of the system 
of crop rotation used by the farmers along the Potomac at 
that time, and a report of the current prices received for farm 
products in Mount Vernon. 

With his usual open-mindness, Washington wants to try 
out a new kind of " mill for separating the grain from the 
heads of corn " ( wheat). ^ It was one of the earliest forms of 
threshers devised in England. 

1 When Washington means what we now call com he refers to it as 
"maize," or "Indian corn." 



8T 



S8 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

TO ARTHUR YOUNG 

Mount Vernon, 1 November, 1787. 
Sir, 

Your favor of the 1st of February came to hand about 
the middle of May last. An absence of more than four 
months from home, will be the best apology I can make for 
my silence till this time. 

The grain, grass seeds, ploughs, &c., arrived at the same 
time, agreeably to the list ; but some of the former were in- 
jured, as will always be the case, by being put into the hold 
of the vessel; however, upon the whole, they were in much 
better order than those things are generally found to be, 
when brought across the Atlantic. 

I am at a loss. Sir, how to express the sense which I have 
of your particular attention to my commissions, and the 
very obliging manner in which you offer me your services 
in any matters relating to agriculture, that I may have to 
transact in England. If my warmest thanks will in any mea- 
sure compensate for these favors, I must beg you to accept 
of them. I shall always be exceedingly happy to hear from 
you, and shall very readily and cheerfully give you any 
information relative to the state of agriculture in this 
country, that I am able. 

I did myself the honor to hand the set of " Annals " to the 
Agricultural Society in Philadelphia, which you sent to that 
body through me. The president wrote a letter to you, 
expressive of the sense they entertained of the favor which 
you did them ; and mentioned therein the effects of some ex- 
periments which had been made with plaster of Paris as a 
manure. I intended to have given you an account of it my- 
self, as I find the subject is touched upon in your " Annals," 
but this letter has precluded the necessity of it. 



h 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 39 

The fifth volume of the " Annals," which was committed 
to the care of Mr. Athawes for me, did not come to hand till 
some time after I had received the sixth. 

The quantity of sainfoin, which you sent me, was fully suf- 
ficient to answer my purpose; I have sown part of it, but 
find that it comes up very thin; which is likewise the case 
with the winter wheat, and some other seeds which I have 
sown. 

I have a high opinion of beans, as a preparation for wheat, 
and shall enter as largely upon the cultivation of them next 
year, as the quantity of seed I can procure will admit. 

I am very glad that you did not engage a ploughman for 
me at the high wages which you mention ; for I agree with 
you, that that single circumstance, exclusive of the others 
which you enumerate, is sufficiently objectionable. I have 
tried the ploughs which you sent me, and find that they an- 
swer the description which you gave me of them ; this is con- 
trary to the opinion of almost every one, who saw them be- 
fore they were used; for it was thought their great weight 
would be an insuperable objection to their being drawn by 
two horses. 

I am now preparing materials to build a barn precisely 
agreeable to your plan, which I think an excellent one. Be- 
fore I undertake to give the information you request, re- 
specting the arrangements of farms in this neighborhood, I 
must observe, that there is, perhaps, scarcely any part of 
America, where farming has been less attended to than in 
this State. The cultivation of tobacco has been almost the 
sole object with men of landed property, and consequently a 
regular course of crops has never been in view. The gen- 
eral custom has been, first to raise a crop of Indian corn 
(maize), which, according to the mode of cultivation, is a 
good preparation for wheat; then a crop of wheat; after 



40 The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 

which the ground is respited (except from weeds, and every 
trash that can contribute to its foulness), for about eighteen 
months; and so on, alternately, without any dressing, till 
the land is exhausted; when it is turned out, without being 
sown with grass-seeds, or any method taken to restore it; 
and another piece is ruined in the same manner. - No more 
cattle are raised, than can be supported by lowland meadows, 
swamps, &c., and the tops and blades of Indian corn; as 
very few persons have attended to sowing grasses, and con- 
necting cattle with their crops. The Indian corn is the chief 
support of the laborers and horses. Our lands, as I men- 
tioned in my first letter to you, were originally very good; 
but use and abuse have made them quite otherwise. 

The above is the mode of cultivation which has been gen- 
erally pursued here ; but the system of husbandry, which has 
been found so beneficial in England, and which must be greatly 
promoted by your valuable " Annals," is now gaining ground. 
There are several, among whom I may class myself, who are 
endeavouring to get into your regular and systematic course 
of cropping, as fast as the nature of the business will admit ; 
so that I hope in the course of a few years we shall make a 
more respectable figure as farmers, than we have hitherto 
done. 

I will, agreeably to your desire, give you the prices of our 
products, as nearly as I am able ; but you will readily con- 
ceive from the foregoing account, that they cannot be given 
with any precision. Wheat for the last four years will aver- 
age about 4s. sterling per bushel, of eight gallons. Rye, 
about 2s. 4d. Oats, Is. 6d. Beans, pease, &c., have not 
been sold in any quantities. Barley is not made here, from 
a prevailing opinion that the climate is not adapted to it. I, 
however, in opposition to prejudice, sowed about fifty bushels 
last spring, and found that it yielded a proportionate quan- 



ta 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 41 

tity with any other kind of grain which I sowed; I might 

add, more. Cows may be bought at about £3 sterling per / "^t^/ 

head. Cattle for slaughter vary from 2%d. to 4%d. sterling / Jjt^ \ 

per pound, the former being the current price in summer, the ' 

latter in the winter or spring. Sheep at 12s. sterling per 

head; and wool at about Is. sterling per pound. I am not 

able to give you the price of labor, as the land is cultivated 

here wholly by slaves, and the price of labor in the towns is 

fluctuating, and governed altogether by circumstances. 

Give me leave to repeat my thanks for your attention to 
me, and your polite offer to execute any business relating to 
husbandry, which I may have in England ; and to assure you, 
that I shall not fail to apply to you for whatever I may have 
occasion for in that line. I am, Sir, with very great esteem, 
&c. 

P.S. I observe in the sixth volume of your " Annals," there 
is a plate and description of Mr. Winlaw's mill, for separat- 
ing the grain from the heads of corn. Its utility or inutil- 
ity has, undoubtedly, been reduced to a certainty before this 
time; if it possesses all the properties and advantages men- 
tioned in the description, and you can, from your own knowl- 
edge, or such information as you entirelif rely on, recom- 
mend it as a useful machine, where laborers are scarce, I 
should be much obliged to you to procure one for me, to be 
paid for and forwarded by Mr. Welch, provided it is so 
pimple in its construction, as to be worked by ignorant per- 
sons, without danger of being spoiled (for such only will 
manage it here), and the price of it does not exceed £15, as 
mentioned in the " Annals," or thereabouts. 



RICHARD PETERS March 4, 1788. 

The following letter indicates with what a keen observation 
Washington went about the country, and how he was always 
ready to try new methods of cultivation, or new machinery 
that might in any way increase the yield of his farms. 

TO RICHARD PETERS 

Mount Vernon, 4 March, 1788. 
Sir, 

When I had the pleasure to be at your house last summer, 
you showed me a triangular harrow with trowel tines, for the 
purpose of cultivating your dell crops. The appearance 
was prepossessing. But I forgot whether you spoke of its 
merits from theoretical or practical knowledge. If the lat- 
ter, will you permit me to request the favor of you to direct 
your workmen, to furnish me with one complete in all its 
parts, accompanied with tines, or trowels, sufficient for four 
more. Colonel Biddle will pay the cost upon demand. 

That you may be enabled to judge of the proper sizes, I 
will inform you for what particular uses they are intended. 

From the experience of two years, one the wettest, the 
other the driest, that ever was felt in this neighborhood, I 
am persuaded, that as much Indian corn can be raised in rows 
as in any manner which has yet been tried, in such middling 
land, and with such management as is usually allowed for 
this grain, and that, by drilling potatoes between, the quan- 
tity of the latter will, at least, quadruple that of the former. 

42 



1 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 43 

Whether potatoes, in addition to the corn, will bear too hard 
upon the soil, is a question that has received an affirmative 
and negative answer, and both, it is said, from the experi- 
ence of husbandry. I mean, therefore, to learn that which 
seems most profitable, and I am already making the experi- 
ment. These harrows, then, are to work the intervals be- 
tween the corn and potatoes ; which being four feet only, the 
dimensions of them must be proportioned to the space they 
are to operate in. But, notwithstanding the levelness of 
my land, and the straightness and equidistance of my rows, 
it would seem, nevertheless, dangerous to depend upon a 
single bout of this implement, because, if perchance the 
width between the rows should exceed four feet, the ground 
will not be broken, and, if it falls short, the plants will be 
cut up. Twice, therefore, in each row, seems necessary for 
safe and proper tillage. I mention it for your consideration 
only ; my own opinion of the matter, I must confess, is (but it 
yields to experience), that two feet from centre to centre of 
the hindmost tines would be a proper medium. This, with 
the outer tines of the trowel, will stir near or quite two feet 
and a half of earth ; and under certain circumstances may be 
sufficient, without going twice in the same row, for cultiva- 
tion of the plants ; at all events, two bouts will give part 
of it a double stirring. 

I am, &c. 



JOHN FAIRFAX March 31, 1789. 

As Washington was about to leave Mount Vernon for 
Philadelphia to take up the duties of President of the United 
States, he wrote this letter of instructions to John Fairfax 
whom he had placed in charge of certain plantations. It is 
a remarkable letter because of the kind yet very firm admoni- 
tions to young Fairfax which it contains. It gives a good 
insight into Washington's methods of handling men. 

The latter half of the second paragraph is a notable com- 
mentary upon business management, with special application 
to the farm, which every business man and every up-to-date 
farmer will do well to read carefully and thoughtfully. 

TO JOHN FAIRFAX 

Mount Vernon, 31 March, 1789. 
Sir, 

As I am now in the act of bidding adieu to my home, for 
a longer time perhaps than I wish, I will inform you that it is 
my intention, if your exertions shall appear to deserve it, 
to make the wages of the year you are now engaged for, fifty 
pounds instead of forty, although I consider myself under 
no obligation to do so ; my own motives for it being to en- 
courage you to use every endeavour in your power to pro- 
mote my interest under the orders and directions of my 
nephew, who will be intrusted with the general management of 
all my concerns during my absence. 

I have a very good opinion of your honesty, sobriety, and 
industry, and now is the time to give me proofs of your ca- 

44 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 45 

pacity and skill. The former, though of essential im- 
portance, are not sufficient without the latter. For, as I have 
often remarked to you, contrivance in business, and a judi- 
cious arrangement of it, should be the leading trait in the 
character of a manager. Indeed, they are of such infinite 
consequence, that no estate can be well conducted without 
them. Unless the different kinds of business, which occupy 
the laborerers of every plantation or farm, can be brought 
into one view and seen at a distance, they will for ever be 
interfering with and treading on the heels of each other. By 
foresight, arrangement, and the execution of a due propor- 
tion of work, this jumble is to be avoided. 

It is with pain I receive the Saturday-night reports, for 
no week passes away without a diminution of my stock. Nor 
is it less painful to me to see the condition of my work- 
horses ; some dying, and others scarcely able to walk, unin- 
cumbered with a plough. And I might add, as a matter of 
no less concern, that it is vain and idle for me to attempt to 
stall-feed any kind of meats, when I have only my expense 
for my pains, without a morsel of meat fit to appear at my 
table or for market. But I will rest in hopes, that these 
things will undergo a change for the better. 

I am not inclined to your keeping a horse. There is no 
occasion for it. My own are adequate to all the services, 
that my business will require, and more would add expense 
without profit; as I need not tell you that there must be 
no more running about, whilst I am absent, than if I were 
on the spot. Indeed, I have too good an opinion of you to 
suppose it necessary to remind you of this. 

As I have already given you plans of those plantations, 
which are committed to your care, and have detailed the 
business of each in the best manner my time and judgment 
would enable me to do, I shall add nothing more on this 



46 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

head, than briefly to observe to you, that it is from my 
nephew, with whom I shall correspond, that you will receive 
further directions, with respect to such matters as have not 
been detailed, or concerning any alterations in those which 
have. 

If you have any matrimonial scheme in view, I do not wish 
to be any let or bar to the accomplishment of it, or to your 
bringing a wife into the family, who may fare as you do 
in it. 

I am. Sir, &c. 



^ 



10 
GEORGE A. WASHINGTON March 31, 1789. 

This letter was written by Washington to his nephew who 
was to " be trusted with the general management of all my 
concerns during my absence." It is a long letter, and full of 
explicit instructions as to the future management of his busi- 
ness affairs. One is amazed at Washington's complete mas- 
tery of detail as suggested by this letter. Yet he was not 
without the capacity of viewing things at a distance, and get- 
ting them into their proper proportion. This must have 
been one of his secrets of success as a general, and later as a 
president. 

A very good insight into his farming methods is obtained 
by a careful reading of the following letter. 

TO GEORGE A. WASHINGTON 

Directions for George A. Washington, respecting the Man- 
agement of the Plantation and other affairs at Mount 
Vernon. 

31 March, 1789. 
Having given very full and ample details of the intended 
crops, and my ideas of the modes of managing them at the 
several plantations, little, if these are observed, needs be 
added on this subject. But as the profit of every farm is 
greater or less, in proportion to the quantity of manure, 
which is made thereon, or can be obtained by keeping the 
fields in good conditions, these two important requisites ought 
never to be lost sight of. 

To effect the former, besides the ordinary means of farm- 
yards, cow-pens, sheep-folds, stables, &c., it would be of 

47 



48 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

essential use, if a certain proportion of the force of each 
plantation could be appropriated, in the summer or early 
part of autumn, to the purpose of getting up mud to be 
ameliorated by the frosts of winter for the spring crops, 
which are to follow. And to accomplish the latter, the gullies 
in these fields, previous to their being sown with grain and 
grass-seeds, ought invariably to be filled up. By so doing, 
and a small sprinkling of manure thereon, they will acquire 
a green sward, and strength of soil sufficient to preserve 
them. These are the only means I know of, by which ex- 
hausted lands can be recovered, and an estate rescued from 
destruction. 

Although a precise number of tobacco hills is by my gen- 
eral directions allotted to each plantation, yet my real in- 
tention is, that no more ground shall be appropriated to this 
crop, than what is either naturally very good (for which 
purpose small spots may be chosen), or what can be made 
strong by manure of some kind or other; for my object is 
to labor for profit, and therefore to regard quality, instead 
of quantity, there being, except in the article of manuring, 
no difference between attending a good plant and an indif- 
ferent one. But in any event, let the precise number of 
hills be ascertained, that an estimate may be formed of their 
yield to the thousand. 

Being thoroughly convinced, from experience, that em- 
bezzlement and waste of crops (to say nothing of the various 
accidents to which they are liable by delays) are increased 
proportionably to the time they are suffered to remain on 
hand, my wish is, as soon as circumstances will permit after 
the grain is harvested, that it may be got out of the straw, 
especially at the plantations where there are no barns, and 
either disposed of in proper deposites, or sold, if it is wheat, 
and the price is tolerable, after it has been converted into 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 4«9 

flour. When this work is set about as the sole, or as a serious 
business, it will be executed properly. But when a little is 
done now, and a little then, there is more waste, even if there 
should be no embezzlement, than can well be conceived. 

One or two other matters I beg may be invariably at- 
tended to. The first is to begin harvest as soon as the 
grain can be cut with safety ; and the next, to get it in the 
ground in due season. Wheat should be sown by the last of 
August; at any rate by the 10th of September; and other 
fall grain as soon after as possible. Spring grain and grass 
seeds should be sown as soon as the ground can possibly, 
with propriety, be prepared for their reception. 

For such essential purposes as may absolutely require the 
aid of the ditchers, they may be taken from that work. At 
all other times they must proceed in the manner, which has 
been directed formerly; and in making the new roads from 
the Ferry to the Mill, and from the Tumbling Dam across 
the Neck, till it communicates with the Alexandria road, as 
has been pointed out on the spot. The ditch from the Ferry 
to the Mill along this road may be a common four-feet one. 
But from the Mill to the Tumbling Dam, and thence across 
to the head of the old field by Muddy-Hole fence, it must be 
five feet wide at top, but no deeper than the four-feet one, 
and the same width at bottom as the latter. 

After the carpenters have given security to the old barn 
in the Neck, they must proceed to the completion of the new 
one at the Ferry, according to the plan and the explanations, 
which have been given. Gunner and Davis should get bricks 
made for this purpose ; and if John Knowles could be spared 
(his work, not only with respect to time, but quantity and 
quality to be amply returned) to examine the bilged walls, 
and the security of them, but to level and lay the founda- 
tions of the other work, when the bricks are ready, it would 



50 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

be rendering me an essential service; and, as the work might 
be returned in proper season, would be no detriment to your 
building. 

When the brick work is executed at the Ferry Barn, Gun- 
ner and Davis must repair to Dogue Run, and make bricks 
there; at the place and in the manner, which have been di- 
rected, that I may have no salmon bricks in that building. 

Oyster shells should be bought, whenever they are offered 
for sale, if good and on reasonable terms. 

Such money as you may receive for flour, barley, fish, as 
also for other things, which can be spared and sold ; and for 
rents, the use of the jacks, &c. ; and for book debts, which 
may be tried, though little is expected from the justice of 
those who have been long indulged; may be applied to the 
payment of workmen's wages as they arise, Fairfax, and the 
taxes, and likewise to the payment of any just debts, which 
I may be owing in small sums, and have not been able to 
discharge previous to my leaving the State. The residue may 
await further orders. 

As I shall want shingles, plank, nails, rum for harvest, 
scantling, and such like things, which would cost me money 
at another time, fish may be bartered for them. The scant- 
ling, if any is taken, must be such as will suit for the barn 
now about to be built, or that at Dogue Run, without waste 
and of good quality. 

I find it is indispensably necessary, for two reasons, to 
save my own clover and timothy seed ; first, because it is the 
only certain means of having it good and in due season; 
and, secondly, because I find it is a heavy article to purchase. 

Save all the honey-locusts 3'^ou can, of those which belong 
to me; if more could be obtained, the better. And, in the 
fall, plant them on the ditches where they are to remain, 
about six inches apart, one seed from another. 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 51 

The seeds, which are on the case in my study, ought, with- 
out loss of time, to be sown and planted in my botanical gar- 
den, and proper memoranda kept of the times and places. 

You will use your best endeavours to obtain the means for 
support of G. and L. Washington, who, I expect, will board, 
till something further can be decided on, with Dr. Craik; 
who must be requested to see that they are decently and 
properly provided with clothes from Mr. Porter's store. 
He will give them a credit on my becoming answerable to 
him for the payment. And, as I know of no resources, that 
H. has for supplies but from me, Fanny will, from time to 
time, as occasion may require, have such things got for her, 
on my account, as she shall judge necessary. Mrs. Wash- 
ington will, I expect, leave her tolerably well provided with 
common articles for the present. 

My memorandum books, which will be left in my study, 
will inform you of the times and places, when, and where, 
different kinds of wheat, grass-seeds, &c., were sown. Let 
particular attention be paid to the quality and quantity of 
each sort, that a proper judgment of them may be formed. 
To do this, great care must be taken to prevent mixture 
of the several sorts, as they are so contiguous to each other. 

The general superintendence of my affairs is all I require 
of you ; for it is neither my desire nor wish, that you should 
become a drudge to it, or that you should refrain from any 
amusements or visitings, which may be agreeable, either to 
Fanny or yourself to make or receive. If Fairfax, the farmer, 
and Thomas Green, on each of whom I have endeavoured to 
impress a proper sense of their duty, will act their part 
with propriety and fidelity, nothing more will be necessary 
for you to do, than would comport with amusement and that 
exercise which is conducive to health. Nor is it my wish, 
that you should live in too parsimonious a manner. Frugal- 



52 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

ity and economy are undoubtedly commendable, and all that 
is required. Happily for this country, these virtues prevail 
more and more every day among all classes of citizens. I 
have heard of, and I have seen with pleasure, a remarkable 
change in the mode of living from what it was a year or two 
ago ; and nothing but the event, which I dreaded would take 
place soon, has prevented my following the example. Indeed, 
necessity, if this had not happened, would have forced me 
into the measure, as my means are not adequate to the ex- 
pense at which I have lived since my retirement to what is 
called private life. Sincerely wishing you health and happi- 
ness, I am ever your warm friend and affectionate uncle. 

A VIEW OF THE WORK AT THE SEVERAL PLANTATIONS AT MOUNT 

VERNON, IN THE YEAR 1789, AND GENERAL DIRECTIONS 

FOR THE EXECUTION OF IT 

From the plans of the plantations, from the courses of 
the crops, which are annexed to these plans, and from the 
mode of managing them as there prescribed, may be derived a 
full and comprehensive view of my designs, after the rotation 
is once perfectly established, in the succession that is pro- 
posed. But as this cannot, at all the plantations, be adopted 
this year, every thing in the mean time must be made to tend 
to it, against the next, as far as circumstances will admit. 

Muddy-Hole Farm 

The ploughs belonging to this plantation, together with 
those from Dogue Run, are to continue, without interruption 
or delay, when not prevented by frost or rain, to break up 
field No. 5 for Indian corn. And, when this is accomplished, 
next to break up No. 4 for buckwheat, which is to be sowed 
in April, and ploughed in before harvest, as a manure for 
the crop of wheat, which is to be sown therein in the month 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 53 

of August next, after these ploughings are performed. 

Then, as there is no field at this plantation, which can with 
convenience be appropriated for spring grain, or for the 
crop of sundries this year, and as the ploughs at Dogue Run, 
especially if the winter should prove hard and unfavorable, 
will not be able, of themselves, to break up fields No. 4 and 
No. 6 Sit their own plantation, and at the same time prepare 
those of No. 3 for barley and oats, and No. 7 for Indian 
corn, in due season, the whole may go to Dogue Run, till the 
corn at Muddy Hole shall want them, and work in No. 6, if 
the condition of it is such as to admit thereof; or in No. 4 
at the same place, if it is not ; for the respective crops which 
are designed for them. 

The fence on the Ferry road, from the division between 
the fields No. 4 and No. 5 to the lane on the Mill road, must 
be repaired with new rails ; but from thence to the gate lead- 
ing to the barn from the overseer's house it should be made 
tolerably secure with rails, which may be taken from the 
opposite side. 

As the days are short, walking bad, and the different kinds 
of stock will require careful attendance, it may perhaps be 
best to relinquish the idea of the people of this place having 
any thing further to do with the new ground at the Mansion 
House ; and when not employed, in open weather, with their 
fencing, to be threshing out grain. But there is a work of 
great importance, if the weather and other circumstances 
would concur for the execution of it in season. I mean, 
that of getting up rich mud from the most convenient parts 
of the creek, and laying it in small heaps, for amelioration, 
to be carried over the poor parts of No. 5, which will be in 
corn. If this last-mentioned work can be accomplished (and 
it must be done soon, if any effect is expected from it this 
year, in order that the frost may have time to operate), the 



54 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

cart may be employed in hauling it to the ground. 

Another piece of work to be done here, as I propose to 
make a small quantity of tobacco at this, as well as at my 
other plantations, is, to hill the ground that is marked off 
for it, in time. But, previous to hilling, it must be laid off 
with the plough into three-feet squares, that the hills may be 
made directly on the cross; so that, in the early stages of 
the growth of the tobacco, it may be tended with a plough 
each way. 

If these several kinds of work should not afford sufficient 
employment for the hoe people, with the cultivation of the 
ground, which will be marked out for potatoes and carrots, 
and which ought to be ploughed up immediately, the}^ may be 
preparing field No. 6, on the creek, for corn in 1790. In 
the execution of this work, the cedar trees are not to be cut 
down, but trimmed only ; and other trees left here and there 
for shades. The brush and rubbish, of all sorts, are to be 
thrown into the gullies and covered over, so as to admit the 
ploughs to pass. 

Both parts of field No. 1 should from this time be with- 
held from stock of all kinds, that there may be, in the spring, 
early food for the ewes, lambs, and calves. Field No. 3, now 
in wheat and rye, must be sown with clover and timothy on 
the first snow that falls, six pints of the first, and two of 
the latter per acre. 

Dogue-Run Farm 

The ploughs belonging to this plantation, when they have 
performed what has already been directed for them at Muddy 
Hole, together with those of the latter, are to begin, if the 
ground will admit of it, to break up No. 6 for buckwheat, to 
be sown in April. But if this, on account of the levelness 
of the field and the water which may stand on it, cannot 



The Agiicultural Papers of George Washmgton 56 

be done, then plough No. 4 for the crop of sundries. But, 
as it is of essential importance, that the oats and barley 
should be sown early, and the working of the fields for In- 
dian corn not so much delayed as to endanger the prospect 
for that crop, the ploughiiigs of both No. 6 and No. 4* must 
be dela3^ed, at least till the oats and barley are in, if they 
cannot be broken up in season for the above purposes. 
The oats ought to be sown in February, next the post-and- 
rail fence; and the barley as soon after as possible, on the 
other side, adjoining the corn. With both, clover and tim- 
othy, in the proportions already mentioned, are to be sown. 

After the above work is accomplished, it will be time to 
cross-plough and sow such parts of No. 4 as are intended 
for carrots, and this is to be done in drills four feet asunder ; 
and, if the ground is dry enough, in the month of March, 
and for flax, which should be sown in April. 

By the time these are done, possibly before it, the fields 
for corn will want listing. This corn, in the south part of 
the field, next to the woods, may be planted at five feet each 
way, with two stalks in a hill, and in the north part, next 
to Colonel Mason's, at four feet each way, with one stalk in 
a hill. The ploughings and harrowings necessary for which, 
without going into detail with respect to the manner and 
times, must be given when wanted. 

The sowing of buckwheat in April for manure seems to be 
the next thing which calls for the ploughs ; because it ought 
to be in the ground as soon as all danger of frost is over, 
that it may be in the proper state (full bloom) for ploughing 
in before harvest. 

After buckwheat, pease will come next, and the ground for 
these, as for the tobacco, must be laid oflP in squares for 
hilling, that they may, before they begin to run and spread, 
be ploughed each way. They ought to be planted in May. 



56 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

Pumpkins, potatoes, turnips, and buckwheat for a crop, 
in the order they are mentioned, will next claim the assist- 
ance of the ploughs. The first should be planted in May, 
in hills eight feet apart, and well manured. The second in 
June, in drills four feet apart, and a foot asunder in the 
rows, with a large handful of manure on each potato, which 
should be uncut and of the largest sort. The third, that 
is, turnips, to be sown partly in June, and partly in July. 
And the fourth, buckwheat, as near as may be to the 10th 
of July. 

This field of sundries may be thus apportioned; carrots, 
five acres ; potatoes, five ; pumpkins, one ; turnips, one ; pease, 
fifteen; flax, three; tobacco, five; buckwheat, thirty-five; 
being seventy acres in all. 

That it may be ascertained, by repeated experiments, 
whether carrots or potatoes are the most productive and 
valuable root, I would have the ten acres allotted for them 
in one square, and the rows for each alternate through the 
whole square, and each to have the same quantity of manure 
allowed to it. 

The work, which has been mentioned for the ploughs, to- 
gether with the ploughing in of the buckwheat before harvest, 
the wheat after harvest, with the workings of the several 
species of crops during their growth, is all the employment 
that can be recollected at present for this part of the force 
of the plantation, until the autumn ploughing for the next 
year's crop commences. But, as these, till the system is 
brought more into practice, and the preceding crop as a 
better preparation of the ground for the succeeding one than 
is the case at present, will require much exertion and an 
addition of ploughs, one may be added to the number at 
Dogue Run, which will make five there; and another at 
Muddy Hole, which will make four there. 



The Agrictdtural Papers of George Washington 57 

Much fencing is necessary at this plantation, before it 
can be said to be advantageously laid off, and in good order. 
That, which requires to be first done, is the one which di- 
vides field No. 4 from the meadow; but, as the rails, which 
are about the stacks, will be most convenient for this work, 
it may be delayed until they can be spared. In the mean 
time, no heavy stock must run in that field, to trample and 
poach the meadow. 

The next, that requires doing, is the line from the head 
of the meadow to the new road, which is to be laid off, 
thence with the road to the Tumbling Dam, and thence 
round field No. 7, agreeably to the ploughing, and the rails 
which have been laid there. 

Next after these, the cross fence between field No. 5 and 
the wood should be done, and then the fence, which was 
begun last year, but not finished, between fields No. 2 and 
No. 3. The fence which divides the first of these, that is, 
No. 2, from the great meadow, requires doing also. All 
these are essential; as it also is, to strengthen the post- 
and-rail fence, which divides No. 1 from No. 2 and No. 3; 
but, as this never can be made a good one, until the whole is 
taken down, and both posts and rails shortened, it must be 
postponed till there is time to do this ; righting it up in such 
a manner, as to make it answer for the present, being all 
that can be attempted this year. 

Lastly, when time will admit, after the posting and railing 
from the Tumbling Dam to the Mill is completed, the rails, 
which at present run upon that line, may serve to separate 
the great meadow into three divisions, as will be marked out. 

Every thing, that the hoe people can do in the course of 
the winter towards getting the old crop off hand, and pre- 
paring for the new one, ought to be the first object of con- 
sideration, and must be closely attended to. Carrying out 



58 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

manure, when the cart can be spared and the ground is in 
order for its reception, either for carrots, potatoes, tobacco, 
or other things, is not to be neglected. Grubbing and filling 
up gullies, in the fields which are to receive crops this year, 
is also essential. And, if these should not afford sufficient 
employment, the overplus time may be spent in clearing 
swamps, or the sides of them, so that they may hereafter, 
when drained effectually, be tended in tobacco previous to 
their being laid down in grass. 

At this place, I propose to plant about thirty thousand 
tobacco plants, in field No. 4, round the houses and stacks, 
where they will be most convenient to the manure; and, 
where the ground is not very rich, I would join a gallon or 
a large double handful of manure to each hill. The ground 
for the crop ought to be broken up early, either with the 
ploughs or hoes, that the green sward may have time to 
rot. If thirty thousand hills cannot be got here, the de- 
ficiency may be made up by the gate that goes into field 
No. 5. 

River Farm 

Early and good ploughing at this place is indispensably 
necessary. The field No. 7, intended for spring grain, that 
is, barley and oats, would, if justice were done to it, call for 
a second or cross ploughing by the time the ploughs will 
begin to break it up. Consequently, field No. 1, designed 
for corn, will hardly get more than a listing, and the field 
No. 4, which ought to have received a crop of sundries, must 
go altogether uncultivated this year. 

After field No. 7 is sown with barley, oats, and grass-seed, 
the latter in the proportion mentioned at the other places, 
if the preparation of No. 1 for corn cannot be postponed, 
without involving injurious consequences to that crop, the 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 59 

ploughs must go there next, and do all that is necessary for 
getting it planted in time, and in good order. 

But, as I do not mean to plant potatoes or carrots among 
corn this year, as was the case last year, inclining to allot 
separate spots for this purpose, these spots, and that which 
is intended for tobacco, ought to be immediately ploughed; 
that the weeds and grass, where there are any, may have 
time to rot, and the ground to be in order to receive manure. 
The spot, which I would principally appropriate for carrots 
and potatoes, is that whereon the flax grew last year, but if 
more can be conveniently obtained elsewhere, it ought to be 
had, as that spot is insufficient. The ground for tobacco 
(forty thousand plants) I mean to lay off in a long square, 
from the farm-pen up to field No. 2, which, when ploughed 
and checkered, will be ready to receive manure at times when 
the carts can with convenience carry it out. 

All the ploughings, which are enumerated, being accom- 
plished, the season probably will have arrived when No. 8 
will require to be cross-ploughed, and sowed with buckwheat 
or manure, in April. This is, in all respects, to be man- 
aged as has been directed for Dogue Run, and after harvest 
is to receive wheat, in August, as there mentioned. 

These, with the necessary workings of the several species 
of crops, which must not be neglected, will, it is presumed, 
give sufficient employment for the ploughs. If not, there 
can be no difficulty in finding work for them. 

Much fencing is wanting on this plantation, before it can 
be in the order I wish to see it ; but, among the most essential 
of these, is the fence which is to enclose field No. 1 for corn •, 
that which runs from the second gate, going into the planta- 
tion, to the creek, dividing my land from Colonel Mason's; 
and that which is to form the lane, which is to lead from the 
barn into the lane which now goes to Johnson's, and which 



60 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

must continue the other way, so as to open a communication 
with the fields No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4. As timber is 
very scarce on this tract, it must in fencing, as well as in 
other things, be made to go as far as possible; consequently, 
posts and rails, of a good and substantial kind, must be 
substituted instead of the usual kind of worm fences. 

To point out all the work for the hoe people of this plan- 
tation is unnecessary. To finish the old, and to prepare for 
the new crop ; to put up fences ; to heap up the manure early, 
that it may get well and soon rotted; to carry it out, and 
to lay it in the furrows intended, for carrots and potatoes, 
and on the ground intended for tobacco ; making hills for 
the tobacco ; grubbing and filling gullies in the fields, which 
are to receive crops this year, with old rails, old stumps, 
old trees, and such other rubbish as can be had conveniently ; 
levelling the bank, on which a fence formerly ran through 
field No. 8; will, with the cultivation of the crops that will 
be planted and sown, and gathering them in, compose the 
greater part, if not all, of their labor. But if there should, 
notwithstanding, be time for other things, I know of nothing 
in which they could be more advantageously employed, than 
in getting up rich mud from the branches in field No. 8, to 
spread over the poor and washed parts of that field, before 
it is sown in wheat next August. 

Mansion-Howse Farm 

The ditchers, after the post-and-rail fence, which they are 
now about, to the Tumbling Dam is completed, and a strong 
one put across the Mill Run, as will be marked off, may con- 
tinue on to the Mill by the line of stakes, which will be set 
up; but they are not to use for this purpose those posts, 
which were got by Marley's house, as they will be more 
convenient for the lane, which is to form the new road from 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 61 

the Ferry by the Mill, as authorized by the court. After this 
work is performed, it will be time enough to point out more. 

To say what the other part of the force at this place shall 
be employed about, is next to impossible, since there is such 
a variety of jobs for them to attend to, besides fishing, hay- 
making, and the grain harvest in their respective seasons, 
which must unavoidably employ them while they last. 

But, as it is designed to raise tobacco, and to tend in 
corn that part, at least, of the new ground in front of the 
house, which was cleared last year, in order that it may be 
laid down in the fall in wheat and orchard grass, they must 
prepare for them accordingly, and, under the circumstances 
above mentioned, attempt as much of the first, that is, to- 
bacco, as there is a moral certainty of their tending well. 
The men may be employed in getting posts and rails of a 
good kind for the purpose of enclosing this tobacco. But 
it is essential, if any labor is expected from the girls and 
boys, who are about this house, to keep some person with 
them, who will not only make them work, but who will see 
that the work is well executed, and that the idleness, which 
they appear every day in the practice of, may be avoided. 



11 

1789. 
SPECIMEN STATEMENTS OF CROPS, AND 
OF REPORTS BY THE MANAGER 

April 14, 1792. 

These Specimen Statements of Crops, and Reports of the 
Manager are here inserted to give the reader an idea of the 
system of farm accounts used by Washington, as well as to 
indicate the thorough and methodical way he kept in touch 
with the operations upon his plantations while he was in office. 

It may surprise some farmers of today who look with doubt 
upon various systems of farm accounting, — considering them 
only new fads in farming, — to realize that one hundred and 
twenty five years ago George Washington believed in the util- 
ity and value of such procedure. 



FIRST STATEMENT O^ THE CROPS IN 1789 








Har- 


Acres 


Acres 


rowed 


Corn; 375 acres. 1 ploughing in the fall of 1788 375 






Listing the field in March, about 14 of the 






above work 94 






Opening the furrows in April, 1/3 of the last 






work 31 






Breaking up the balks in May, % of the whole. 281 




Ploughing do. in June, do. do. 2f81 






Do. do. in July, do. do. 281 








1343 




Three times harrowed, do. do. each 281 




843 


Rye; 375 acres. Once ploughed for seeding in Sep- 






tember 


281 




Once harrowed do 




281 


Buckwheat; 375 acres. One ploughing after Rye 






comes off 375 






One do in April 375 


750 




Three harrowings, 1 before, and .2 after sowing 




1125 



62 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 63 









Har- 




Acres 


Acres 


rowed 


Wheat; 375 acres Ploughing in buckwheat in June. 375 








do. seeding ground with wheat in 








Aug 375 


750 






One harrowing after sowing 




375 


Sundries; 375 


acres. One ploughing in the fall of 1788 375 






75 


do. in Pease ploughed into 3 ft. 
ridges in Apr 75 








Checkered, about ^ of above work in 








April 19 






234 


do. in Buckwheat for a crop, ploughed 

in Apr 234 

1st July do 234 








Three times harrowed 1st of July 




702 


8 


do. Scarcity ploughed in March 8 

do. May 8 

do. July 8 






8 


do. Pumpkins, ploughed in March... 8 
do. May ... 8 
do. July ... 8 






20 


do. Flax, ploughed in March 20 

do. April 20 










1025 






Three times harrowed 




60 


Barley; 375 


acres. First ploughing January or 

February 375 








Second do. February or March 375 


750 






Three times harrowed 




1125 






4899 


4511 



Of the above Work 

Between the 1st of October and Christmas, Corn 

amounts to 375 

Buckwheat amounts to 375 

Sundries " " .375 

In January and February, Barley, first ploughing, 
February and May, do. second " 

March, listing for Corn as above 94 

Ploughing first time for Root of Scarcity 8 

Do. do. Flax 20 

Do. do. Pumpkins 8 



1125 



64 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 



Acres 

April, second ploughing for Flax 20 

do. Pease, in three-feet ridges 75 

Do. checkered 19 

Opening Corn lists for planting 31 

Buckwheat for manure 375 

May, Do. for seed ;^34 

Pumpkins, second ploughing, 8; Root of 

Scarcity, 8 16, 

Breaking balks between Corn 281 

June, ploughing Corn second time 281 

do. Buckwheat for manure 375 

July, Buckwheat for seed 234 

Third ploughing of Corn 281 

Third do. Root of Scarcity, 8; Pumpkms, 8 16 

August, Wheat 

September, Rye 



Acres 



Har- 
rowed 



520 



4899 



60 



1125 



531 


281 




281 


656 






702 




281 


531 




375 


375 


281 


281 



4511 



Dr. 



Results of the First Statement 



Cr. 





£. 


s.d. 


£. 


s.d. 


For 375 bushels Rye for 






By 5625 bushels Corn, at 3s. 843 





seed at 3s. . . 


56 


5 


5625 do. Rye, 3s 843 





375 bushels Buck- 






5625 do. Potatoes, Is. 281 


5 


wheat, for 






4500 do. Barley, 3s.6d. 787 





seed at 2s . . . 


37 


10 


3750 do. Wheat, 5s. . . . 937 


10 


375 bushels Wheat, 






Sundries, viz. 




for seed at 5s. 


93 


15 


1404 bushels Buckwheat, 




750 bushels Barley 






at 2s 140 


8 


for seed at 3s. 






375 bushels Pease, 4s.. 75 





6d 


131 


5 


100 bushels Flax seed. 




Sundries, viz. 






3s. 6d 17 


10 


75 bush. Pease for 






Dressed Flax 




seed, at 4s. . . 


15 





Buckwheat, 375 acres 




234 bush. B u c k- 






for manure. 




wheat, 2s. . . 


23 


8 






30 bush. Flax, 3s. 
6d 










5 


5 


£3924 


13 


3750 lbs. Clover seed, 8d. 


125 









3120 bushels of Corn for 






375 acres Clover, 20s 375 




negroes, at 3s. . . 


468 









2750 bushels of Rye for 
horses, 3s 










412 10 


£4299 


13 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 65 







£. 


s.d. 


100 bushels Salt, 2s. 


6d. 


12 


10 


330 gallons Rum, 2s. 




33 





750 bushels of Potatoes, 






for seed. Is. . 




37 


10 




£14o0 


18 



£. s.d. 



100 thousand Tobacco 
hills, 20 hhds. £7. 
10s 150 



£4449 13 



SECOND STATEMENT OF CROPS IN 1789. 







Har- 


Acres 


Acres 


rowed 


Corn; 375 acres. Same in all respects as No. 1 


1343 


843 


Buckwheat; 375 acres. First ploughing in April 375 






Second do. last of June 375 


750 




Three har rowings 




1125 


Wheat; 375 acres. One ploughing after the Buck- 






wheat is cut 


375 




Two harrowings 




750 


Sundries ; 375 acres. The same as No. 1 


1025 


762 


Barley; 375 acres. The same as No. 1 


750 


1125 




4243 


4605 



Of the above Work 



Acres 

One ploughing for Corn, 1788 

Fall, one ploughing for Sundries, do 

January and February, first ploughing for Barley. . 375 

February and March, second do do . . . 375 

March, listing for Corn 94 

ploughing first time for Root of Scarcity. . . 8 

do. do. Flax 20 

do. do. Pumpkins 8 

April second ploughing for Flax 20 

do. Pease, in three-feet ridges 75 

do. checkered 19 

Opening Corn lists 31 

First ploughing for Buckwheat for a crop 375 



Acres 



Har- 
rowed 



375 

375 



750 



130 



1125 



60 



520 



66 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 



Acres 

May, first ploughing of Buckwheat among the sun- 
dries 234 

Pumpkins, second ploughing, 8 acres; Scarcity, 

8 do 16 

Ploughing balks between Corn, first time 281 

June, ploughing Corn second time 281 

second do. of Buckwheat 375 

July, the same 234 

Corn third time 281 

Third ploughing for Scarcity, 8 ; for Pumpkins, 8 16 

August, ploughing for Wheat 



Acres 



Plar- 
rowed 



>31 



656 



531 
375 

4243 



281 
281 

1125 

702 
281 



750 
4605 



Dr. 



Results of the Second Statement. 



Ce. 





£ s. d. 


For 375 bushels of Buck- 




wheat for seed. 




2s 


37 10 


375 bushels seed 




Wheat, 5s 


93 15 


Sundries, viz. 




75 bushels Pease, 4s. 


15 


234 bushels Buck- 




wheat, 2s 


23 8 


30 bushels Flax seed 


» 


3s. 6d 


5 5 


750 bushels Barley, 




3s. 6d 


131 5 


3750 lbs. Clover seed, 8d. 


125 


3120 bushels of Corn, 3s. 


468 


2750 do. Rye, 3s 


412 10 


100 do. Salt, 2s. 6d. . . 


12 10 


330 gallons Rum, 2s. . . 


33 


750 bushels potatoes for 




seed. Is 


37 10 



£1,394 13 



£ s. d. 

By 5625 bushels of Corn, 3s. 843 

5625 do. Potatoes, Is. 281 5 
Buckwheat ploughed in 
for manure. 

3750 bushels Wheat, 5s, 937 10 
Sundries, viz. 

375 bushels of Pease, 4s 75 

1404 do. Buckwheat, 2s. 140 8 

4500 do. Barley, 3s. 6d. 787 

100 do. Flax seed, 3s. 

6d 17 10 



£3,081 13 



Dressed Flax. 
375 acres Clover, 20s . . 375 
375 do. do. do. 375 



£3,831 13 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 67 
THIRD STATEMENT OF CROPS FOR 1789 



Acres 
Corn; 375 acres. The same as No. 1 and No. 2 1343 



Har- 
rowed 

843 



Barley; 375 acres. do. do. do 750 

Buckwheat; 375 acres. Ploughed in fall, in March and 

April 1125 

Wheat; 375 acres. Ploughed in June, to cover Buckwheat 

and Corn in August 750 

Flax; 20 acres. Ploughed twice, harrowed three times 40 

4008 



1125 
1125 

375 

60 

3528 



Of the above Work 



Acres 



Acres 



Har- 
rowed 



Fall, one ploughing for Corn, 1788 375 

do. Buckwheat, do 375 

January and February, first ploughing for Barley.. 375 
February and March, second do. do. ... 375 

March, listing for Corn , 94 

Second ploughing for Buckwheat 375 

First do. Flax 20 

April, second do. do 20 

Third do. Buckwheat 375 

Opening Corn lists 31 



May, breaking up the balks between Corn 

June, second ploughing of Corn 281 

Ploughing in Buckwheat 375 

July, ploughing Corn the third time 281 

Ploughing for Wheat or Buckwheat 375 



750 
750 

489 

426 

281 

656 

656 

4008 



1125 



60 

750 



281 
281 

281 
750 

3528 



Dr. 



Results of Third Statement. 
£ s.d. 



For 750 bushels of Bar- 
ley, for seed, at 
3s. 6d 131 15 



Cr. 

£ s.d. 
By 5625 bushels of Corn, 3s. 843 



5625 do. Potatoes, Is.. 281 5 



68 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

£ s.d. 
4500 do. Barley, 3s. 6d. 787 



£ s.d. 
375 bushels Buck- 
wheat, 2s 37 10 

375 bushels Wheat, 

5s 93 15 

3750 lbs. Clover seed, 

8d no 

30 bushels of Flax 

seed 5 50 

3120 bushels corn, 3s. 468 
2750 bushels Rye for 

horses, 412 10 

100 bushels Salt, 2s. 

6d 12 10 

330 gallons of Rum, 

2s 33 10 

750 bushels of Pota- 
toes for seed^ 
Is 37 10 



£1,357 5 



3750 do. Wheat, 5s.. . . 937 10 
Buckwheat for manure 
100 bush. Flax seed, 

3s. 6d 17 10 



£2,866 5 
375 acres of Clover, 20s. 375 
375 do. do. do. 375 
375 do. do. do. 375 



£3,091 5 



MANAGER'S WEEKLY REPORT 

April 14th, 1792. 

Meteorological Table. 





Morning 


Noon 


Night 


April 8th, 


E. Clear 


S. E. Cloudy 


S. E. Rain 


" 9th, 


S. E. Rain 


S. E. Cloudy 


S. E. Cloudy 


" 10th, 


S. W. Cloudy 


S. W. Rain 


60 S. E. Rain 


" 11th, 


58 E. Rain 


S. E. Rain 


58 S. E. Rain 


« 12th, 


57 N. E. Rain 


56 N. E. Hard Rain 


54 N. E. Cloudy 


« 13th, 


52 N. E. Cloudy 


^Q N. E. Rain 


58 N. E. Rain 


" 14th, 


54 N. W. Cloudy 


58 N. W. Cloudy 


52 N. W. Clear 



Dr. Days 

Mansion-House Farm for the work of 12 men, 6 boys, and 4 girls, 

amounting per week to 132 

Cr. 

By a wagon hauling posts and rails to Ferry-Barn lane 1 

By do. hauling hay 1, stocks 1, timber for shafts for carts and mov- 
ing park rails 1 3 

By hauling 6 barrels salt to Major Washington's landing, and bring- 
ing home straw 1 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 69 

Cr. Days 

By carts hauling manure from Ferry Barn to No. 3 French's 6 

By cleaning loose manure about stables, and hauling it to lot in- 
tended for lucerne 5 

By hauling corn from Ferry, and bran and meal from Mill wood 

to Mansion 2 

By hauling stones to repair the crossing-place of Muddy-Hole 

Swamp, at the head of French's meadow 2 

By Old Jack in care of granary 6, Old Frank in care of stock 6 12 

By Peter, in care of mares, mules, and jacks 6 

By Gunner digging brick earth 3, cutting poles to build a brick 

house 2 5 

By putting up post-and-rail fence leading to Ferry Barn 5 

By hauling seine, cleaning, striking, and packing fish 41 

By Easter Monday 22 

By sickness Boatswain 6, Mima 3, Richmond 3, Postilion Joe 3, 

Lynna 3, Sam 3 21 

Total 132 

Increase, 2 Calves and 2 Mules. Received from Mill, '22 bushels of 
Meal, and 29 bushels of Bran; from Ferry, 3 barrels of Corn. Stock, 
11 head of Cattle, 4 Calves, 60 Sheep, 28> Lambs, 4 working Mares, 4 do. 
Horses, 5 Colts, 4 spring do., 2 Jacks, 2 old Jennies, 1 do. three years 
old, 1 do. two years old, 1 do. one year old, 15 Mules, 10 one year old, 
2 spring do.; and 11 Mares. 

Dr. Days 
Ditchers, for the work of 6 men, amounting per week to 36 

Cr. 

By Baths and Paschal mortising posts 1, fencing Ferry-Barn new 

lane 4 10 

By Boatswain and Robin mauling rails 1, and fencing as above 4.. 10 

By Charles hauling seine 5 

By Dundee sawing trunnels with Dogue-Run hands 5 

By Easter Monday 6 

Total 36 

N. B. There has been almost one day and part of another lost by 
rain this week. 

Dr. Days 

Muddy-Hole Farm for the work of 3 men and 9 women, amounting 

per week to 72 

Cu. 

By listing in No. 2 4 



70 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

Cr. Days 

By a cart hauling stakes and trunnels to the fence between Nos. 

1 and 7 3 

By hauling rails to No. 1 Lane fence 1 

By raising the bank with a plough and hoes between No. 1 and No. 

7 11 

By putting up fences on said bank 19, cutting stakes and trunnels 

for do. 7 26 

By taking down and new setting the Lane fence of No. 1 7 

By Easter Monday 12 

By sickness, Kate 3, Amy 2, Molly 3 8 

Total 72 

Received from Mill 6 bushels of Meal, and 6 bushels of Rye Meal.. — 
Stock, 37 head of cattle, 5 Calves, 30 Sheep, 8 working Horses, and 1 
Mule. 

Dr. Days 

Ferry and French's Farms for the work of 7 men, 16 women, and 4 

boys, amounting per week to 162 

Cr. 

By listing new ground in French's meadow 16 

By carts hauling stakes, rails, and trunnels to different fences 6 

By hauling manure to No. 2 French's 3, hauling corn to Mill 1 4 

By repairing fences, 34, burning logs and brush in the swamp, 30.. 64 
By heaping manure 4, beating out corn 4, cutting and mauling stakes 

and trunnels, 4 12 

By spinning 3, hauling seine 5, French's Tom at Mansion-House 

5 13 

By Easter Monday 27 

By sickness, Doll 6, Old Daph 5, Betty 4, Rose 3, Delia 2 20 

Total 162 

Increase 2 Calves, and 5 Lambs. — Received from Mill, 12^/4 bushels 
of Meal, sent do. 54 bushels of Corn. To Mansion-House 3 barrels of 
do., feed to Horses 1 barrel of do. — ^ Stock, 83 head of Cattle, 5 Calves, 
136 Sheep, 60 Lambs, 16 working Horses, and 2 Mules. 

Dr. Days 

River Farm for the work of 9 men, 18 women, and 1 girl, amoimt- 

ing per week to 168 

Cr. 

By listing in No. 6 10 

By carts hauling manure on do 6 

By hauling rails 2, going to Mill 1 3 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 71 

Cr. Days 

By loading carts with manure 6, cutting straw 3 9 

By plashing thorn hedge 4, repairing the bank of Lane fence No. 6 2 
By stopping hog-hole in do. 6, putting up new fence next to the 

woods of do. 18 24) 

By cutting cornstalks, and getting them off 56 

Lost by rain, or very little done 20 

By Easter Monday 28 

By Ck)rnelia in childbed 6 

Total 168 

Increase, 3 Calves. — Received from Mill, 9% bushels of Meal, and 10 
bushels of Rye Meal.— Stock, 83 head of Cattle, 5 Calves, 221 Sheep, 
45 Lambs, 4 working Mares, 13 working Horses, and 1 Mule. 

Dr. Days 
Dogue-Run Farm for the work of 6 men, 8 women, and 2 girls, amount- 
ing per week to 96 

Cr. 

By listing in No. 2, 5, by ploughing in Mill meadow 3 7 

By raising a bank with a plough and hoes in Mill meadow for the 

fence 19 

By sawing trunnels 5, mauling do. 5, cutting in Mill meadow 2, 12 

By repairing fence around the middle meadow 10 

By repairing fence around No. 2, 7, by spinning 2 9 

By hauling post and rails to Ferry-Barn new lane 5 

By hauling rails to Mill meadow fence 3 

By hauling rails to the middle meadow fence 2 

By Easter Monday 16 

By sickness, Grace 3, Molly 3, Sail 3, Cicely 4 13 

Total 96 

Received from Mill, 6% bushels of Meal.— Stock, 57 head of Cattle, 
1 Calf, 124 Sheep, 9 working Horses, and 1 Mule. 

Dr. Days 

Joiners and Carpenters for the work of 6 men and 2 boys, amount- 
ing per week to 48 

Cr. 

By Thomas Green making sashes for the new quarter 5 

By Mahony putting up the berths in do 5 

By Isaac making and mending ploughs 4, getting ash for rake- 
handles 1 5 

By Jam making a new cart and shafts, and getting beach stocks 

for planes 5 



72 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

Cr. Days 

By Sambo and David sawing gate stuff 3, getting stocks and ash 

for rake-handles 6 8 

By Sambo ripping plank on account of rain 1 

By David with Isaac on account of do 1 

By Joe planing plank 5 

By Christopher at do. 4, and 1 day with the wagon 5 

By Easter Monday 8 

Total 48 



Dr. 

Mill for Sundries 


Cr. 

Meal 


Bran 


Rye 
Meal 


Corn 
Ferry and French's, 53 
Toll Corn received, 91/2 

Total received 621/2 

Toll Com ground ... 56 


ByDogue-Run Plantation 634 

By River Plantation 9% 

By Muddy Hole 6 

By Ferry and French's... 12l^ 
By Mansion-House 23 

Total delivered 66^4^ 

By Coopers and Miller . . 1 


20 


10 
6 

16 



12 
ANTHONY WHITING November 11, 1792. 

We have here a typical reply to a manager's report in 
which Washington shows his ability to criticize severely. It 
will be noticed that even the sawyer's faulty calculations of 
lumber do not escape Washington's careful eye. 

Jared Sparks, an early biographer of Washington, says of 
these reports and their replies : 

" While Washington was absent from home, in discharging 
the duties of President of the United States, it was his custom 
to exact from the manager at Mount Vernon, once in each 
week, a full report of the proceedings on all the farms. This 
paper is a sample of those reports. In the meteorological 
table, the figures denote the state of the thermometer, and the 
initial letters the direction of the wind. The design of this 
table was to communicate a knowledge of the weather, by 
which a more correct judgment could be formed of the 
amount of time, that the laborers could properly be employed 
at their work. Each report was accompanied with an ex- 
planatory letter from the manager, containing other partic- 
ulars. These were regularly answered once a week by the 
President, and sometimes oftener. His letters frequently 
filled two or three sheets closely written. The importance he 
attached to these letters, and his diligence in preparing them, 
• may be understood from the fact, that he first made rough 
drafts, which were copied out by himself in a fair hand 
before they were sent off. Press-copies were then taken, 
which he preserved. This habit was pursued, without inter- 
mission, from the beginning to the end of the Presidency." ^ 

1 Sparks: "The Writings of Washington," Vol. XII, p. 351. 

73 



74 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

TO ANTHONY WHITING 

Philadelphia, 11 November, 1792. 
Mr. Whiting, 

Since my last, I have received your letters of the 2d and 
7th instant, and shall notice such parts of them as require 
it, and give such directions respecting my business, commit- 
ted to your management, as may occur to me. 

I shall again express my wish, and, as the raising of corn 
at the Mansion-House is given up, will also add my anxiety, 
to have all the ground (except single trees and clumps here 
and there) cleared, and well cleared, as mentioned in a former 
letter, between the old clover lot and the sunken ground 
quite from the wharf to Richard's house and the gate ; but, 
previously, do what has been desired from the cross fence 
by the spring, to the wharf. In clearing the whole of this 
ground, let all the ivy and flowering trees and shrubs remain 
on it, over and above the clumps, and other single trees where 
they may be thought requisite, for ornament. The present 
growing pines within that enclosure might be thinned, and 
brought more into form. When this is done, and all the 
low land from the river up to the gate laid down in grass, it 
will add much to the appearance of the place, and be a real 
benefit and convenience, as it will yield an abundance of 
grass. 

All the hands, that can be conveniently spared, may be 
kept steadily at this work until it is accomplished, or till 
they are called off for other essential purposes. The ditch- 
ers too, when not employed about more essential work, may 
aid in this. And it will be necessary for you to think of 
some crop for the new part of the ground, that will require 
cultivation through the summer; otherwise the clearing of 
it will be labor in vain, as in a year or two, without cultiva- 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 75 

tion, it will be as foul as ever. 

By a vessel called the President, Captain Carhart, you will 
receive, I hope, the articles contained in the enclosed invoice 
and bill of lading. The linen, I expect, will be cut out and 
used to the best advantage. You will perceive there are 
two prices; let that, which bears the lowest price, be given 
to the boys and girls, and the highest price and best, to the 
grown and most deserving men and women, and the surplus 
(for there is more than you required) be put away securely. 

The mulberry trees may be planted about in clumps, as 
mentioned in my letter by last post to the gardener. They 
are not trimmed, because, as I am informed, these trees may 
be propagated by cuttings from them, and save me the 
trouble and expense of sending more from this place. With 
respect to the shrubs from Mr. Bartram's botanical garden, 
directions at the foot of the list are given so fully, as to 
render it unnecessary to add aught concerning them in this 
letter; but the grapes the gardener must take particular 
care of, as they are of a very fine kind. 

I send you, also, under cover with this letter, some seeds, 
which were given to me by an English farmer from the 
county of Essex, in England, lately arrived in this country 
to settle, and who appears to be a very sensible and judicious 
man, and a person of property. He also gave me a pamphlet 
upon the construction of the kind of plough, which he has 
used for many years ; and the principles for putting the 
parts together, to make it work true and easy, which I will 
send to you so soon as I shall receive it from a gentleman to 
whom I lent it. The plough is simple in its make. The 
oats, which he gave me as a sample, exceed very little, if any, 
what I have grown myself. They may, however, in the spring 
be put into the ground by single seeds, to try what can be 
made of them. The cattle cabbage may also be tried.. 



76 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

Mr. Lambert, the name of the farmer from whom I had 
these things, says that the land, on which he and his father 
before him have lived for fifty or sixty years, is a stiff white 
clay; and, being at a distance from any source of manure, 
besides that which is made on the farm, they have pursued 
a different mode of cropping from that which is usually 
followed in England; and by so doing, with the aid of the 
internal manure of the farm, they have brought their poor, 
stiff land, which originally did not yield them more than five 
or six bushels of wheat to the acre, and other grain in pro- 
portion, to produce very generally from twenty-five to thirty 
of wheat, and from forty to fifty of barley. Their method 
has been to keep the arable land always perfectly clean, and 
alternately in crop or fallow; that is, to take a corn crop 
from it one year, and have it under the plough in a naked 
fallow, by way of preparation for the next crop, the next 
year ; beginning this fallow in the autumn, when the ground 
is dry, again in the spring, as soon as it becomes dry, and 
three or four times after, before seeding for wheat (if wheat 
is the crop) ; never ploughing it wet, which is the cause, he 
says, of its running. He seems to understand the principles 
as well as the practice of husbandry, being a sensible man, 
and inured for a number of years (I suppose he is sixty) 
to the labor and practice of it. He has travelled a good 
deal about this country, and is of opinion that our great 
error lies in not keeping our arable land clean, and free from 
weeds. I observed to him, that the people of this country 
are of opinion, that naked fallows under our hot sun are 
injurious. He will not by any means admit the principle or 
the fact; but ascribes the impoverished state of our lands 
and bad crops to the weeds which he everywhere sees, and 
which both exhaust and foul it. By constant ploughing, 
these, he says, are eradicated ; and when the fields come to be 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington ^^ 

laid in grass, which is sown, the hay will be pure and un- 
mixed with any thing hurtful to it. 

The giving way of the post-and-rail fencing proves, in a 
strong point of view, the necessity of seeing that all which 
is made hereafter be of a more substantial kind ; that is, the 
posts larger, and the rails shorter; and it proves, too, the 
necessity of what I can never too often nor too strongly 
impress upon you, and that is, to begin and make a business 
of rearing hedges, without the loss of a single season; for 
really there is no time to lose. Set about it effectually. I 
am sure every plantation is now of sufficient force to spare 
labor for this purpose; not merely to scratch a little trench 
along the banks of the ditches, and therein put a few seeds, 
or cuttings, among weeds, briars, and every kind of trash, 
which will prevent their coming up, or choke them if they do. 
I would wish to have the seeds or cuttings of any thing tried, 
rather than that the attempt should be delayed, as it has 
hitherto been, from one season to another. 

Desire Thomas Green to date his reports. That of the 
week before last I send back for explanation of his measure- 
ment of the sawing. I fancy it will puzzle him to make out 
508 feet in the twenty-four plank there set down; for, as 
plank, length and breadth only could be measured. This 
would amount to no more than 296 feet. As scantling, 
length and side and edge would be measured, and this would 
give only about 310 or 312 feet. If he goes on at this rate, 
he will, in appearance, amend their work, though it will not 
in reality be any better. But, admitting that the true ad- 
measurement was 508 feet, this would make but a miserable 
quantity for the time they were about it. That these people 
(sawyers I mean) may have no pretence for such idleness, 
not only get them two saws, but let them be of the largest 
and best kind. I have already told you, that the oak scant- 



78 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

ling is to be got on the estate, and the place where. Let 
Thomas Green, while he is in the Neck, repair the overseer's 
house, as well as it can be done at this season. The scantling 
that is to be bought, should be got as soon as possible, that 
the carpenters may be framing it in the winter, or early in 
the spring. 

Direct the miller to report every week the state of his 
manufactory of the wheat; as well as the receipts and de- 
livery of the grain into and from the mill, that I may see 
how he proceeds in that business, and what flour he has on 
hand, that I may govern my directions accordingly. 

I am very well satisfied with the reasons you assign for 
opening my letter to Mrs. Fanny Washington. It might, 
as you observe, have contained a request, which, as she was 
gone, you might have complied with. 

You have never mentioned in any of your letters what has 
become of the mare I left at Georgetown, and which was to 
have been sent to Mount Vernon. I hope she got there safe, 
and is now well; in that case you may, occasionally, ride 
her; keeping her in good order against I may call for her. 

How does your growing wheat look at this time? I hope 
no appearance of the Hessian fly is among it. On Patuxent, 
not far from you, I am told it is making such havoc amongst 
the growing wheat, as to render it necessary to sow over 
again. I am sorry to find No. 1, at French's, turn out so 
poor a crop of wheat, and that the fields at Muddy Hole have 
yielded still worse. How much wheat at that place came off^ 
the lot by the overseer's house ? 

In ploughing fields No. 3 and No. 4*, Dogue Run, let them 
be so begun as that the rows when planted may run north 
and south, or as nearly so as the situation of the fields will 
admit. 

In making your weekly reports, instead of referring to 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 79 

the preceding week or weeks, for the state of your stock 
of different kinds, enumerate the number of each. I shall 
have it in my power then to see at one view the precise state 
of it without resorting to old accounts. And let me entreat, 
that you will examine them yourself, frequently, as a check 
upon the overseers; without which, rather than be them- 
selves at the trouble of counting them, they will make you 
that kind of general report. 

The coffee and tea, that I sent you some time ago, you are 
very welcome to use, and it is my desire you should do it. 

The sheriff's bill for the taxes, which you paid while I 
was at home, cannot here be got at, as it is filed amongst my 
papers ; but, as I want a copy of it for a particular reason, 
I should be glad if you would procure one from the sheriff, 
and send it to me exactly as it was handed in and paid. I 
want no receipt annexed to it. The account only is all I 
desire, containing the whole items of charges. I am your 
friend and well-wisher, 

George Washington. 

P.S. In clearing the wood, mark a road by an easy and 
graduated ascent from the marsh or low ground, up the 
hollow which leads into the lot beyond the fallen chestnut, 
about midway of the lot; and leave the trees standing thick 
on both sides of it, for a shade to it. On the west side of 
this hollow, if I recollect rightly, there was an old road 
formerly, but not laid out agreeably to the directions here 
given. It would look well, and perhaps might be convenient, 
if there was a road on both sides of this hollow, notwithstand- 
ing the hill-side on the east is steep. At any rate, trees 
where the road would go, if made, might be left for future 
decision, as they might also be along the side of the low land 
at the foot of the hill quite from the wharf to the gate by 
Richard's house. If that meadow should ever be thoroughly 



80 The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 

reclaimed, and in good grass, a walk along the edge of it 
would be an agreeable thing; and leaving trees for this pur- 
pose may not be amiss, as they may at any time be removed, 
although time only can restore them if taken away in the 
first instance. And this would be a good general rule for 
you to observe in other parts of the same ground ; as, if too 
thick, they can always be thinned; but, if too thin, there is 
no remedy but time to retrieve the error. 



13 

ARTHUR YOUNG December 12, 1793. 

This is perhaps the most important letter in this collection. 
For in it, Washington gives to us a detailed and careful de- 
scription of his Mount Vernon Estate which was the scene of 
all his agricultural activities. Since he was a surveyor from 
youth, the map that he includes in his account of the estate is 
no doubt very reliable. It surely is an excellent help in form- 
ing an adequate conception of the extent of his farm hold- 
ings.-^ 

TO ARTHUR YOUNG 

Philadelphia, 12 December, 1793. 
Sir, 

I wrote to you three months ago, or more, by my late 
secretary and friend, Mr. Lear; but, as his departure from 
this country for Great Britain was delayed longer than he 
or I expected, it is at least probable, that that letter will not 
have reached your hands at a much earlier period than the 
one I am now writing. 

At the time it was written, the thoughts which I am now 
about to disclose to you were not even in embryo; and 
whether, in the opinion of others, there be impropriety or 
not in communicating the object which has given birth to 
them, is not for me to decide. My own mind reproaches me 

1 Besides the Mount Vernon Estate which contained 3260 acres, he held 
large tracts of land on the Ohio and great Kenhawa Rivers west of Pitts- 
hnrg, amounting to 37,372 acres and three smaller tracts, two located 
in Washington and Fayette Counties, Pennsylvania, and a third near 
Wheeling, West Virginia. These three totaled 5,165 acres, making a 
grand total of all the land held by Washington in 1793 of 46,097 acres. 

81 



8£ The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

with none; but, if yours should view the subject differently, 
burn this letter, and the draught which accompanies it, and 
the whole matter will be consigned to oblivion. 

All my landed property, east of the Appalachian Moun- 
tains, is under rent, except the estate called Mount Vernon. 
This, hitherto, I have kept in my own hands ; but, from my 
present situation, from my advanced time of life, from a 
wish to live free from care, and as much at my ease as 
possible, during the remainder of it, and from other causes, 
which are not necessary to detail, I have latterly entertained 
serious thoughts of letting this estate also, reserving the 
Mansion-House Farm for my own residence, occupation, and 
amusement in agriculture; provided I can obtain what is, in 
my own judgment, and in the opinion of others whom I have 
consulted, the low rent which I shall mention hereafter; and 
provided also I can settle it with good farmers. 

The quantity of ploughable land (including meadow), the 
relative situation of the farms to one another, and the di- 
vision of these farms into separate enclosures, with the quan- 
tity and situation of the woodland appertaining to the tract, 
will be better delineated by the sketch herewith sent (which 
is made from actual surveys, subject nevertheless to revision 
and correction), than by a volume of words. 

No estate in United America is more pleasantly situated 
than this. It lies in a high, dry, and healthy country, three 
hundred miles by water from the sea, and, as you will see by 
the plan, on one of the finest rivers in the world. Its margin 
is washed by more than ten miles of tide-water; from the 
bed of which, and the innumerable coves, inlets, and small 
marshes, with which it abounds, an inexhaustible fund of rich 
mud may be drawn, as a manure, either to be used separately, 
or in a compost, according to the judgment of the farmer. 
It is situated in a latitude between the extremes of heat and 



3 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 83 

cold, and is the same distance by land and water, with good 
roads and the best navigation, to and from the Federal City, 
Alexandria, and Georgetown; distant from the first, twelve, 
from the second, nine, and from the last, sixteen miles. The 
Federal City, in the year 1800, will become the seat of the 
general government of the United States. It is increasing 
fast in buildings, and rising into consequence ; and will, I 
have no doubt, from the advantages given to it by nature, 
and its proximity to a rich interior country, and the West- 
ern territory, become the emporium of the United States. 

The soil of the tract, of which I am speaking, is a good 
loam, more inclined however to clay than sand. From use, 
and I might add, abuse, it is become more and more con- 
solidated, and of course heavier to work. The greater part 
is a greyish clay ; some part is a dark mould ; a very little is 
inclined to sand ; and scarcely any to stone. A husbandman's 
wish would not lay the farms more level than they are; and 
yet some of the fields, but in no great degree, are washed into 
gullies, from which all of them have not as yet been re- 
covered. 

This river, which encompasses the land the distance above- 
mentioned, is well supplied with various kinds of fish at all 
seasons of the year; and, in the spring, with the greatest 
profusion of shad, herrings, bass, carp, perch, sturgeon, &c. 
Several valuable fisheries appertain to the estate; the whole 
shore, in short, is one entire fishery. 

There are, as you will perceive by the plan, four farms 
besides that at the mansion-house; these four contain three 
thousand two hundred and sixty acres of cultivable land, 
to which some hundreds more adjoining, as may be seen, 
might be added, if a greater quantity should be required ; but 
as they were never designed for, so neither can it be said 
that they are calculated to suit, tenants of either the first, 



84 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

or of the lower class; because those, who have the strength 
and resources proportioned to farms of from five hundred 
to twelve hundred acres (which these contain), would hardly 
be contented to live in such houses as are thereon; and, if 
they were to be divided and subdivided, so as to accommodate 
tenants of small means, say from fifty to one or two hun- 
dred acres, there would be none, except on the lots which 
might happen to include the present dwelling-houses of my 
overlookers (called bailiffs with you), barns, and negro- 
cabins ; nor would I choose to have the woodland (already too 
much pillaged of its timber) ransacked, for the purpose of 
building many more. The soil, however, is excellent for 
bricks, or for mud-walls ; and to the building of such houses 
there would be no limitation, nor to that of thatch for the 
cover of them. 

The towns already mentioned, to those who might incline 
to encounter the expense, are able to furnish scantling, plank, 
and shingles, to any amount, and on reasonable terms; and 
they afford a ready market also for the produce of the 
land. 

On what is called Union Farm (containing nine hundred 
and twenty-eight acres of arable and meadow), there is a 
newly-erected brick barn, equal perhaps to any in America, 
and for conveniences of all sorts, particularly for sheltering 
and feeding horses, cattle, &c., scarcely to be exceeded any- 
where. A new house is now building in a central position, 
not far from the barn, for the overlooker; which will have 
two rooms, sixteen by eighteen feet, below, and one or two 
above, nearly of the same size. Convenient thereto is suffi- 
cient accommodation for fifty-odd negroes, old and young; 
but these buildings might not be thought good enough for 
the workmen or day-laborers of your country. 

Besides these, a little without the limits of the farm, as 






The Agrictdtural Papers of George Washmgton 85 

marked in the plan, are one or two other houses, very pleas- 
antly situated, and which, in case this farm should be divided 
into two, as it formerly was, would answer well for the east- 
ern division. The buildings thus enumerated are all that 
stand on the premises. 

Dogue-Run Farm (six hundred and fifty acres) has a 
small, but new building for the overlooker; one room only 
below, and the same above, sixteen by twenty each ; decent 
and comfortable for its size. It has also covering for forty- 
odd negroes, similar to what is mentioned on Union Farm. 
It has a new circular barn, now finishing, on a new construc- 
tion; well calculated, it is conceived, for getting grain out 
of the straw more expeditiously than the usual mode of 
threshing. There are good sheds also, erecting, sufficient 
to cover thirty work-horses and oxen. 

Muddy-Hole Farm (four hundred and seventy-six acres) 
has a house for the overlooker in size and appearance nearly 
like that at Dogue Run, but older ; the same kind of covering 
for about thirty negroes, and a tolerably good barn, with 
stables for the work-horses. 

River Farm, which is the largest of the four, and sepa- 
rated from the others by Little Hunting Creek, contains 
twelve hundred and seven acres of ploughable land, has an 
overlooker's house, of one large and two small rooms below, 
and one or two above; sufficient covering for fifty or sixty 
negroes, like those beforementioned ; a large barn and stables, 
gone much to decay, but these will be replaced next year 
with new ones. 

I have deemed it necessary to give this detail of the build- 
ings, that a precise idea might be had of the conveniences 
and inconveniences of them ; and I believe the recital is just 
in aU its parts. The enclosures are precisely and accurately 
delineated in the plan ; and the fences now are, or soon will be, 



86 The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 

in respectable order. 

I would let these four farms to four substantial farmers, of 
wealth and strength sufficient to cultivate them, and who 
would insure to me the regular payment of the rents ; and I 
would give them leases for seven or ten years, at the rate of 
a Spanish milled dollar, or other money current at the time 
in this country equivalent thereto, for every acre of plough- 
able and mowable ground, within the enclosures of the re- 
spective farms, as marked in the plan; and would allow the 
tenants, during that period, to take fuel ; and use timber from 
the woodland to repair the buildings, and to keep the fences 
in order until live fences could be substituted in place of 
dead ones ; but in this case, no sub-tenants would be allowed. 

Or, if these farms are adjudged too large, and the rents, 
of course, too heavy for such farmers as might incline to 
emigrate, I should have no unsuperable objection against 
dividing each into as many small ones, as a society of them, 
formed for the purpose, could agree upon among them- 
selves ; even if it should be by the fields as they are now 
arranged (which the plan would enable them to do), pro- 
vided such buildings, as they would be content with, should 
be erected at their own expense, in the manner already men- 
tioned. In which case, as in the former, fuel, and timber for 
repairs, would be allowed; but, as an inducement to parcel 
out my grounds into such small tenements, and to compensate 
me at the same time for the greater consumption of fuel and 
timber, and for the trouble and expense of collecting small 
rents, I should expect a quarter of a dollar per acre, in addi- 
tion to what I have already mentioned. But in order to 
make these small farms more valuable to the occupants, and 
by way of reimbursing them for the expense of their es- 
tablishment thereon, I would grant them leases for fifteen or 
eighteen years; although I have weighty objections to the 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 87 

measure, founded on my own experience of the disadvantage 
it is to the lessor, in a country where lands are rising every 
year in value. As an instance in proof, about twenty years 
ago I gave leases for three lives, in land I held above the 
Blue Mountains, near the Shenandoah River, seventy miles 
from Alexandria, or any shipping-port, at a rent of one 
shilling per acre, no part being then cleared ; and now land of 
similar quality in the vicinity, with very trifling improvements 
thereon, is renting currently at five and more shillings per 
acre, and even as high as eight. 

My motives for letting this estate having been avowed, I 
will add, that the whole, except the Mansion-House Farm, or 
none, will be parted with, and that upon unequivocal terms ; 
because my object is to fix my income, be it what it may, 
upon a solid basis in the hands of good farmers ; because I 
am not inclined to make a medley of it; and, above all, be- 
cause I could not relinquish my present course without a 
moral certainty of the substitute which is contemplated; for 
to break up these farms, remove my negroes, and dispose of 
the property on them upon terms short of this, would be 
ruinous. 

Having said thus much, I am disposed to add further, that 
it would be in my power, and certainly it would be my in- 
clination, upon the principle above, to accommodate the 
wealthy, or the weak-handed farmer, and upon reasonable 
terms, with draught-horses, and working mules and oxen; 
with cattle, sheep, and hogs ; and with such implements of 
husbandry, if they should not inclin^ to bring them them- 
selves, as are in use on the farms. On the four farms there 
are fifty-four draught-horses, twelve working mules, and a 
sufficiency of oxen, broke to the yoke; the precise number I 
am unable this moment to ascertain, as they are compre- 
hended in the aggregate of the black cattle. Of the latter, 



88 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

there are three hundred and seventeen ; of sheep, six hundred 
and thirty-four ; of hogs, many ; but, as these run pretty much 
at large in the woodland, which is all under fence, the number 
is uncertain. Many of the negroes, male and female, might 
be hired by the year, as laborers, if this should be preferred 
to the importation of that class of people; but it deserves 
consideration, how far the mixing of whites and blacks to- 
gether is advisable; especially where the former are entirely 
unacquainted with the latter. 

If there be those who are disposed to take these farms in 
their undivided state, on the terms which have been mentioned, 
it is an object of sufficient magnitude for them, or one of them, 
in behalf of the rest, to come over and investigate the prem- 
ises thoroughly, that there may be nothing to reproach 
themselves, or me with, if (though unintentionally) there 
should be defects in any part of the information herein given ; 
or, if a society of farmers are disposed to adventure, it is 
still more incumbent on them to send over an agent, for the 
purpose abovementioned ; for with me the measure must be 
so fixed as to preclude any cavil or discussion thereafter. 
And it may not be malapropos to observe in this place, that 
our overlookers are generally engaged, and all the arrange- 
ments for the ensuing crops are made, before the first of 
September in every year. It will readily be perceived, then, 
that if this period is suffered to pass away, it is not to be 
regained until the next year. Possession might be given 
to the new comers at the season just mentioned, to enable 
them to put in their grain for the next crop ; but the final 
relinquishment could not take place until the crops are 
gathered, which of Indian corn (maize) seldom happens till 
towards Christmas, as it must endure hard frosts before it 
can be safely housed. 

I have endeavoured, as far as my recollection of facts. 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 89 

would enable me, or the documents in my possession allow, to 
give such information of the actual state of the farms, as to 
enable persons at a distance to form as distinct ideas as the 
nature of the thing is susceptible of, short of one's own view ; 
and, having communicated the motives which have inclined me 
to a change in my system, I will announce to you the origin 
of them. 

First, few ships, of late, have arrived from any part of 
Great Britain or Ireland without a number of emigrants, and 
some of them, .by report, very respectable and full-handed 
farmers. A number of others, they say, are desirous of 
following, but are unable to obtain passages ; but their coming 
in that manner, even if I was apprized of their arrival in time, 
would not answer my views, for the reason already assigned ; 
and which, as it is the ultimatum at present, I will take the 
liberty of repeating, namely, that I must carry my plan into 
complete execution, or not attempt it; and under such 
auspices, too, as to leave no doubt of the exact fulfilment ; and, 

Secondly, because, from the number of letters which I 
have received myself, and, as it would seem, from respectable 
people, inquiring into matters of this sort, with intimations 
of their wishes, and even intentions of migrating to this 
country, I can have no doubt of succeeding. But I have 
made no reply to these inquiries, or, if any, in very general 
terms ; because I did not want to engage in correspondences 
of this sort with persons of whom I had no knowledge, nor 
indeed leisure for them, if I had been so disposed. 

I shall now conclude as I began, with a desire, that if you 
see any impropriety in making these sentiments known to 
that class of people, who might wish to avail themselves of 
the occasion, that it may not be mentioned. By a law, or by 
some regulation of your government, artisans, I am well 
aware, are laid under restraints ; and for this reason, I have 



90 Tlie Agricvltwral Papers of George Washmgton 

studiously avoided any overtures to mechanics, although my 
occasions called for them. But never having heard that dif- 
ficulties were thrown in the way of husbandmen by the gov- 
ernment, is one reason for my bringing this matter to your 
view. A second is, that, having yourself expressed senti- 
ments, which showed that you had cast an eye towards this 
country, and were not inattentive to the welfare of it, I was 
led to make my intentions known to you, that if you, or your 
friends, were disposed to avail yourselves of the knowledge, 
you might take prompt measures for the execution. And, 
thirdly, I was sure, if you had lost sight of the object your- 
self, I could, nevertheless, rely upon such information, as 
you might see fit to give me, and upon such characters, too, 
as you might be disposed to recommend. 

Lengthy as this epistle is, I will crave your patience while 
I add, that it is written in too much haste, and under too 
great a pressure of public business, at the commencement of 
an important session of Congress, to be correct or properly 
digested. But the season of the year, and the apprehension 
of ice, are hurrying away the last vessel bound from this port 
to London. I am driven, therefore, to the alternative of 
making the matter known in this hasty manner, and giving a 
rude sketch of the farms, which is the subject of it, or to 
encounter delay ; the first I have preferred. It can hardly be 
necessary to add, that I have no desire that any formal pro- 
mulgation of these sentiments should be made. 

To accomplish my wishes, in the manner herein expressed, 
would be agreeable to me; and in a way that cannot be ex- 
ceptionable, would be more so. With much esteem and re- 
gard, I am. Sir, &c. 



«*. 



Tli€ Agricultural Papers of George Washington 91 



FARMS, AND THEIR CONTENTS 



Umon Farm. 

Field, No. I 

II 

Ill 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

Meadow, 42 

25 



120 acres 

129 

121 

120 

110 

116 

125 

67 



Muddy -Hole Farm 
Field, No. 1 63 acres 



II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 



68 

52 
54 
65 

80 

74 



Clover lots 20 928 



Dogue-Bun Farm 




Field, No. 


I.... 


..... 


70 acres 




II... 





74 




III... 





74 




IV... 





71 




V... 





75 




VI... 





73 




VII... 





80 


Meadow, . 




...38 
18 
13 
10 








36 


114 


Clover lots, 






18 649 



Clover lots, 20 476 

Biver Farm 

Field, No. 1 120 acres 

II 120 

III 125 

IV 132 

V 132 

VI 130 

VII 120 

Pasture, 212 

Orchards, &c 84 

Clover lots, 32 1207 



Union Farm, 

Dogue-Run Farm . , 
Muddy-Hole Farm. 



Total of the four farms 



928 
649 
476 



3260 



14 
THOMAS JEFFERSON October 4, 1795. 

We have in the following letter an interesting discussion of 
lucerne, clover, chiccory, buckwheat, peas, potatoes, and the 
winter vetch, — all from the standpoint of manures. 

It is pleasant to reflect upon the fact that two such promi- 
nent statesmen as Washington and Jefferson, though differ- 
ing radically on many political and social questions, had the 
same hobby while at home, — that of agriculture. Certainly 
if they found it an inspiring and restful occupation, it ought 
not to be beneath the dignity of the American citizen today 
to engage in such an avocation. We are also tempted to re- 
mark that the farmers of today are following more nearly in 
the foot-steps of Washington and Jefferson than are some of 
the politicians of today. 

TO THOMAS JEFFERSON 

Mount Vernon, 4 October, 1795. 
Dear Sir, 
Your letter of the 12th ultimo, after travelling to Phila- 
delphia and back again, was received by me at this place the 
1st instant. The letter from Madame de Chastellux to me is 
short, referring to the one she has written to you for par- 
ticulars respecting herself and infant son. Her application 
to me is unquestionably misplaced, and to Congress it would 
certainly be unavailing ; as the Chevalier de Chastellux's pre- 
tensions (on which hers must be founded) to any allowance 
from this country were no greater than that of any and 
every other officer of the French army, who served in America 

92 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 93 

the last war. To grant to one, therefore, would open a wide 
door to applications of a similar nature, and to consequent 
embarrassments. Probably the sum granted at the last ses- 
sion of Congress to the daughters of the Count de Grasse has 
given rise to this application. That it has done so in other 
instances, I have good reasons to believe. 

I am much pleased with the account you have given of the 
succory. This, like all other things of the sort with me, since 
my absence from home, has come to nothing; for neither my 
overseers nor manager will attend properly to any thing 
but the crops they have usually cultivated; and, in spite of 
all I can say, if there is the smallest discretionary power al- 
lowed them, they will fill the land with Indian corn, although 
even to themselves there are the most obvious traces of its 
(baneful effects. I am resolved, however, as soon as it shall 
be in my power to attend a little more closely to my own 
concerns, to make this crop yield in a degree to other grain, 
to pulses, and to grasses. I am beginning again with chic- 
cory, from a handful of seed given me by Mr. Strickland, 
which, though flourishing at present, has no appearance of 
seeding this year. Lucerne has not succeeded better with 
me than with you ; but I will give it another and a fairer 
trial before it is abandoned altogether. Clover, when I can 
dress lots well, succeeds with me to my full expectation, but 
not on the fields in rotation, although I have been at much 
cost in seeding them. This has greatly disconcerted the 
system of rotation on which I had decided. 

I wish you may succeed in getting good seed of the winter 
vetch. I have often imported it, but the seed never vege- 
tated, or in so small a proportion, as to be destroyed by 
weeds. I believe it would be an acquisition, if it was once 
introduced properly in our farms. The Albany pea, which 
is the same as the field pea of Europe, I have tried, and found 



94 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

it will grow well; but is subject to the same bug which per- 
forates the garden pea, and eats out the kernel. So it will 
happen, I fear, with the pea you propose to import. I had 
great expectation from a green dressing with buckwheat, as 
a preparatory fallow for a crop of wheat, but it has not an- 
swered my expectation yet. I ascribe this, however, more 
to mismanagement in the times of seeding and ploughing in, 
than any defect of the system. The first ought to be so 
ordered, in point of time, as to meet a convenient season for 
ploughing it in, while the plant is in its most succulent state. 
But this has never been done on my farms, and consequently 
has drawn as much from, as it has given to the earth. It 
has always appeared to me that there were two modes in 
which buckwheat might be used advantageously as a manure. 
One, to sow early, and, as soon as a sufficiency of seed is 
ripened, to stock the ground a second time, to turn the whole 
in, and when the succeeding growth is getting in full bloom, 
to turn that in also, before the seed begins to ripen; and, 
when the fermentation and putrifaction ceases, to sow the 
ground in that state, and plough in the wheat. The other 
mode is, to sow the buckwheat so late, as that it shall be gen- 
erally about a foot high at the usual seeding of wheat ; then 
turn it in, and sow thereon immediately, as on a clover lay, 
harrowing in the seed lightly to avoid disturbing the buried 
buckwheat. I have never tried the latter method, but see 
no reason against its succeeding. The other, as I observed 
above, I have prosecuted, but the buckwheat has always stood 
too long, and consequently had got too dry and sticky to 
answer the end of a succulent plant. 

But of all the improving and ameliorating crops, none in 
my opinion is equal to potatoes, on stiff and hard bound 
land, as mine is. I am satisfied, from a variety of instances, 
that on such land a crop of potatoes is equal to an ordinary 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 96 

dressing. In no instance have I failed of good wheat, oats, 
or clover, that followed potatoes; and I conceive they give 
the soil a darker hue. I shall thank you for the result of 
your proposed experiments relative to the winter vetch and 
pea, when they are made. 

I am sorry to hear of the depredations committed by the 
weevil in your parts ; it is a great calamity at all times, and 
this year, when the demand for wheat is so great, and the 
price so high, must be a mortifying one to the farmer. The 
rains have been very general, and more abundant since the 
1st of August, than ever happened in a summer within the 
memory of man. Scarcely a mill-dam, or bridge, between 
this and Philadelphia, was able to resist them, and some were 
carried off a second and third time. 

Mrs. Washington is thankful for your kind remembrance 
of her, and unites with me in best wishes for you. With 
very great esteem and regard, I am, dear Sir, &c. 



15 

JAMES McHENRY May 29, 1797. 

While this letter does not throw much light upon Washing- 
ton as a farmer, yet it does give us a delightful glimpse of his 
home life after a sojourn of eight years in Philadelphia as 
President. It contains a concise description of how Wash- 
ington at 65 spends a typical day. Incidentally, it leads us 
to the comforting thought that in one respect, at least, he is 
human ; for in regard to letter writing he says : " but when the 
lights are brought, I feel tired and disinclined to engage in 
this work, conceiving that the next night will do just as well." 

TO JAMES McHENRY 

Mount Vernon, 29 May, 1797. 
Dear Sir, 

I am indebted to you for several unacknowledged letters ; 
but never mind that ; go on as if you had them. You are at 
the source of information, and can find many things to re- 
late ; while I have nothing to say, that could either inform or 
amuse a Secretary at War in Philadelphia. 

I might tell him, that I begin my diurnal course with the 
sun ; that, if my hirelings are not in their places at that time 
I send them messages expressive of my sorrow for their in- 
disposition; that, having put these wheels in motion, I ex- 
amine the state of things further; and the more they are 
probed, the deeper I find the wounds are which my buildings 
have sustained by an absence and neglect of eight years ; by 
the time I have accomplished these matters, breakfast (a 
little after seven o'clock, about the time I presume you are 

96 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 97 

taking leave of Mrs. McHenry), is ready; that, this being 
over, I mount my horse and ride round my farms, which em- 
ploys me until it is time to dress for dinner, at which I 
rarely miss seeing strange faces, come as they say out of 
respect for me. Pray, would not the word curiosity answer 
as well? And how different this from having a few social 
friends at a cheerful board! The usual time of sitting at 
table, a walk, and tea, brings me within the dawn of candle 
light; previous to which, if not prevented by company, I 
resolve, that, as soon as the glimmering taper supplies the 
place of the great luminary, I will retire to my writing-table 
and acknowledge the letters I have received; but when the 
lights are brought, I feel tired and disinclined to engage in 
this work, conceiving that the next night will do as well. 
The next comes, and with it the same causes for postponement, 
and effect. 

This will account for your letter remaining so long un- 
acknowledged ; and having given you the history of a day, it 
will serve for a year, and I am persuaded you will not require 
a second edition of it. But it may strike you that in this 
detail no mention is made of any portion of time allotted for 
reading. The remark would be just, for I have not looked 
into a book since I came home; nor shall I be able to do it 
until I have discharged my workmen, probably not before 
the nights grow longer, when possibly I may be looking in 
Doomsday-Book. At present I shall only add, that I am 
always and affectionately yours. 



16 
WILLIAM STRICiaAND July 15, 1797. 

An able discussion of the Englishman's criticism of agricul- 
tural methods followed in the United States is contained in 
this letter. Washington deplores the wasteful use of land, 
and the expensive style of fencing then in vogue in this coun- 
try. 

There are also some interesting remarks upon the methods 
of planting wheat, and growing clover with orchard grass. 

TO WILLIAM STRICKLAND, IN ENGLAND 

Mount Vernon, 15 July, 1797. 
Sir, 
I have been honored with yours of the 30th of May and 
5th of September of last year. As the first was in part an 
answer to a letter I took the liberty of writing to you, and 
the latter arrived in the middle of an important session of 
Congress, which became more interesting as it drew more 
near to its close, inasmuch as it was limited by the constitu- 
tion to the 3d of March, and on that day was to give po- 
litical dissolution to the House of Representatives, a third 
part of the Senate, and the Chief Magistrate of the United 
States, I postponed, from the pressure of business occasioned 
thereby, the acknowledgment of all private letters, which did 
not require immediate answers, until I should be seated under 
my own vine and fig-tree, where I supposed I should have 
abundant leisure to discharge all my epistolary obligations. 

98 



TJie Agricultural Papers of George Washington 99 

In this, however, I have hitherto found myself mistaken; 
for at no period have I been more closely employed in re- 
pairing the ravages of an eight years' absence. Engaging 
workmen of different sorts, providing and looking after them, 
together with the necessary attention to my farms, have oc- 
cupied all my time since I have been at home. 

I was far from entertaining sanguine hopes of success in 
my attempt to procure tenants from Great Britain; but, 
being desirous of rendering the evening of my life as tranquil 
and free from care as the nature of things would admit, I was 
willing to make the experiment. 

Your observation, with respect to occupiers and proprie- 
tors of land has great weight, and, being congenial with my 
own ideas on the subject, was one reason, though I did not 
believe it would be so considered, why I offered my farms to 
be let. Instances have occurred, and do occur daily, to prove 
that capitalists from Europe have injured themselves by 
precipitate purchases of free-hold estates, immediately upon 
their arrival in this country, while others have lessened their 
means in exploring States and places in search of locations; 
whereas, if on advantageous terms they could have been first 
seated as tenants, they would have had time and opportuni- 
ties to become holders of land, and for making advantageous 
purchases. But it is so natural for man to wish to be the 
absolute lord and master of what he holds in occupancy, that 
his true interest is often made to yield to a false ambition. 
Among these, the emigrants from the New England States 
may be classed, and this will account, in part, for their mi- 
gration to the westward. Conviction of these things having 
left little hope of obtaining such tenants as would answer my 
purposes, I have had it in contemplation, ever since I returned 
home, to turn my farms to grazing principally, as fast as 
I can cover the fields sufficiently with grass. Labor, and of 



100 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

course expense, will be considerably diminished by this change, 
the net profit as great, and my attention less divided, whilst 
the fields will be improving. 

Your strictures on the agriculture of this country are but 
too just. It is indeed wretched; but a leading, if not the 
primary, cause of its being so is, that, instead of improving 
a little ground well, we attempt much and do it ill. A half, 
a third, or even a fourth of what we mangle, well wrought 
and properly dressed, would produce more than the whole 
under our system of management; yet such is the force of 
habit, that we cannot depart from it. The consequence of 
which is, that we ruin the lands that are already cleared, and 
either cut down more wood, if we have it, or emigrate into the 
Western country. I have endeavoured, both in a public and 
private character, to encourage the establishment of boards 
of agriculture in this country, but hitherto in vain ; and what 
is still more extraordinary, and scarcely to be believed, I 
have endeavoured ineffectually to discard the pernicious 
practice just mentioned from my own estate; but, in my ab- 
sence, pretexts of one kind or another have always been para- 
mount to orders. Since the first establishment of the Na- 
tional Board of Agriculture in Great Britain, I have con- 
sidered it as one of the most valuable institutions of modern 
times; and, conducted with so much ability and zeal, as it 
appears to be under the auspices of Sir John Sinclair, it must 
be productive of great advantages to the nation, and to man- 
kind in general. 

My system of agriculture is what you have described, and 
I am persuaded, were I to proceed on a large scale, would 
be improved by the alteration you have proposed. At the 
same time I must observe, that I have not found oats so 
great an exhauster, as they are represented to be ; but in my 
system they follow wheat too closely to be proper, and the 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 101 

rotation will undergo a change in this, and perhaps in some 
other respects. 

The vetches of Europe have not succeeded with me; our 
frosts in winter, and droughts in summer, are too severe for 
them. How far the mountain or wild pea would answer as a 
substitute, by cultivation, is difficult to decide, because I be- 
lieve no trial has been made of it, and because its spontaneous 
growth is in rich lands only. That it is nutritious in a great 
degree, in its wild state, admits of no doubt. 

Spring barley, such as we grow in this country, has thriven 
no better with me than vetches. The result of an experiment, 
made with a little of the true sort, will be interesting. The 
field peas of England (different kinds) I have more than 
once tried, but not with encouragement to proceed ; for, among 
other discouragements, they are perforated by a bug, which 
eats out the kernel. From the cultivation of the common 
black-eye peas, I have more hope, and am trying them this 
year, both as a crop, and for ploughing in as a manure ; but 
the severe drought, under which we labor at present, may 
render the experiment inconclusive. It has, in a manner, de- 
stroyed my oats, and threatens to destroy my Indian corn. 

The practice of ploughing in buckwheat twice in the season 
as a fertilizer is not new to me. It is what I have practised, 
or, I ought rather to have said, attempted to practise, the 
last two or three years ; but, like most things else in my ab- 
sence, it has been so badly executed, that is, the turning in 
of the plants has been so ill timed, as to give no result. I 
am not discouraged, however, by these failures ; for, if pul- 
verizing the soil, by fallowing and turning in vegetable sub- 
stances for manure, is a proper preparation for the crop 
that is to follow, there can be no question, that a double 
portion of the latter, without an increase of the ploughing, 
must be highly beneficial. I am in the act of making an- 



102 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

other experiment of this sort, and shall myself attend to the 
operation, which, however, may again prove abortive, from 
the cause I have mentioned, namely, the drought. 

The lightness of our oats is attributed, more than it ought 
to be, to the unfitness of the climate of the middle States. 
That this may be the case in part, and nearer the seaboard in 
a greater degree, I will not controvert ; but it is a well-known 
fact, that no country produces better oats than those that 
grow on the Allegany Mountains, immediately westward of 
us. I have heard it affirmed, that they weigh upwards of fifty 
pounds the Winchester bushel. This may be occasioned by 
the fertility of the soil, and the attraction of moisture by the 
mountains ; but another reason, and a powerful one too, may 
be assigned for the inferiority of ours, namely, that we are 
not choice in our seeds, and do not change them as we ought. 

The seeds you were so obliging as to give me shared the 
same fate that Colonel Wadsworth's did, and as I believe 
seeds from England generally will do, if they are put into the 
hold of the vessel. For this reason, I always made it a point, 
whilst I was in the habit of importing seeds, to request my 
merchants and the masters of vessels, by which they were 
sent, to keep them from the heat thereof. 

You make a distinction, and no doubt a just one, between 
what in England is called barley, and big, or here. If there 
be none of the true barley in this country, it is not for us, 
without experience, to pronounce upon the growth of it ; and 
therefore, as noticed in a former part of this letter, it might 
be interesting to ascertain, whether our climate and soil 
would produce it to advantage. No doubt, as your observa- 
tions while you were in the United States appear to have been 
extensive and accurate, it did not escape you, that both 
winter and spring barley are cultivated among us. The lat- 
ter is considered as an uncertain crop south of New York, and 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 103 

I have found it so on my farms. Of the former I have not 
made sufficient trial to hazard an opinion of success. About 
Philadelphia it succeeds well. 

The Eastern Shore bean, as it is denominated here, has ob- 
tained a higher reputation than it deserves ; and, like most 
things unnaturally puffed, sinks into disrepute. Ten or more 
years ago, led away by exaggerated accounts of its fertiliz- 
ing quality, I was induced to give a very high price for some 
of the seed; and, attending to the growth in all its stages, 
I found that my own fields, which had been uncultivated for 
two or three years, abounded with the same plants, without 
perceiving any of those advantages, which had been attributed 
to them. 

I am not surprised that our mode of fencing should be dis- 
gusting to a European eye. Happy would it have been for 
us, if it had appeared so in our own eyes ; for no sort of 
fencing is more expensive or wasteful of timber. I have 
been endeavouring for years to substitute live fences in place 
of them; but my long absence from home has in this, as in 
every thing else, frustrated all my plans, that required time 
and particular attention to effect them. I shall now, al- 
though it is too late in the day for me to see the result, 
begin in good earnest to ditch and hedge; the latter I am 
attempting with various things, but believe none will be found 
better than cedar, although I have several kinds of white 
thorn growing spontaneously on my own grounds. 

RoUers I have been in the constant use of for many years, 
in the way you mention, and find considerable benefit in 
passing them over my winter grain in the spring, as soon as 
the ground will admit a hoof on it. I use them also on 
spring grain and grass seeds, after sowing and sometimes 
before, to reduce the clods when the ground is rough. My 
clover generally is sown with spring grain; but, where the 



104 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

ground is not too stiff and binding, it succeeds very well on 
wheat. Sown on a light snow in February, or the beginning 
of March, it sinks with the snow and takes good root. And 
orchard grass, of all others, is in my opinion the best mixture 
with clover ; it blooms precisely at the same time, rises quick 
again after cutting, stands thick, yields well, and both horses 
and cattle are fond of it, green or in hay. Alone, unless it 
is sown very thick, it is apt to form tussocks. If of this, or 
any other seeds I can procure, you should be in want, I 
shall have great pleasure in furnishing them. 

I should have been very happy in forming an acquaintance 
with the gentleman, of whom you speak so highly (Mr. Smith 
of Ross Hall) ; but, unless he has been introduced on a public 
day and among strangers, unaccompanied by any expression 
to catch the attention, I have not yet had the pleasure to 
see him; nor have I heard more of Mr. Parsons, than what 
is mentioned of him in your letter. Your sentiments of these 
gentlemen, or others, on giving letters of introduction to 
any of your acquaintance, require no apology, as I shall al- 
ways be happy in showing civility to whomsoever you may 
recommend. 

For the detailed account of your observations on the 
husbandry of these United States, and your reflections 
thereon, I feel myself much obliged, and shall at all times be 
thankful for any suggestions on agricultural subjects, which 
you may find leisure and inclination to favor me with, as 
the remainder of my life, which, in the common course of 
things, now in my sixty-sixth year, cannot be of long con- 
tinuance, will be devoted wholly to rural and agricultural 
pursuits. 

For the trouble you took in going to Hull, to see if any 
of the emigrants, who were on the point of sailing from 
thence to America, would answer my purposes as tenants ; and 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 105 

for your very kind and friendly offer of rendering me serv- 
ices, I pray you to accept my sincere thanks, and an assurance 
of the esteem and regard with which I am, Sir, &c. 



17 
JAMES ANDERSON December 10, 1799. 

Washington makes some excellent and very pertinent re- 
marks in the following letter to his m>anager upon the value of 
system in general, and upon its application to farm manage- 
ment in particular. Standing out in contrast with some of 
the loose farming methods of today, are his comments upon 
economy, and the care of tools and machinery on a farm. 

He also makes extensive plans for his farms, and gives de- 
tailed directions for their execution as far ahead as 1803. 

Especial importance attaches to this letter of directions be- 
cause it was written only four days before his death. 

TO JAMES ANDERSON, MANAGER OF THE FARMS 

Mount Vernon, 10 December, 1799. 
Mr. Anderson, 
From the various plans suggested by you at different times 
for cropping the farms, which I propose to retain in my own 
hands, in the year 1800, and with a reduced force of the 
laborers on them, and the operations necessary to carry them 
into effect; comparing these with the best reflections I have 
been able to make on the subject; and considering, moreover, 
the exhausted state of my arable fields, and how important it 
is to adopt some system by which the evil may be arrested, 
and the fields in some measure restored by a rotation of 
crops, which will not press hard upon them, while sufficient 
intervals are allowed for improvement; I have digested the 
following instructions for my manager, and for the govern- 
ment of my overseers, and request that they may be most 

106 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 107 

strictly and pointedly attended to and executed, as far as 
the measures therein required will admit. 

A system closely pursued, although it may not in all its 
parts be the best that could be devised, is attended with in- 
numerable advantages. The conductor of the business, in 
this case, can never be in any dilemma in his proceedings. 
The overseers, and even the laborers, know what is to be 
done, and what they are capable of doing, in ordinary sea- 
sons. The force to be employed may be in due proportion 
to the work which is to be performed, and a reasonable and 
tolerably accurate estimate may be made of the product. 
But when no plan is fixed, when directions flow from day to 
day, the business becomes a mere chaos, frequently shifting, 
and sometimes at a stand, for want of knowing what to do, 
or the manner of doing it. Thus is occasioned a waste of 
time, which is of more importance, than is generally imagined. 

Nothing can so effectually obviate the evil, as an established 
system^ made known to all who are actors in it, that all may 
be enabled thereby to do their parts to advantage. This 
gives ease to the principal conductor of the business, and is 
more satisfactory to the persons who immediately overlook 
it, less harassing to the laborers, as well as more beneficial 
to the employer. 

Under this view of the subject, the principal service, which 
you can render me, is to explain to the overseers (who will 
be furnished with duplicates) the plan, in all its parts, which 
is hereafter detailed; to hear their ideas with respect to 
the order in which the different sorts of work therein pointed 
out shall succeed each other, for the purpose of carrying it 
on to the best advantage; to correct any erroneous projects 
they may be disposed to adopt ; and then to see, that they 
adhere strictly to whatever may be resolved on, and that they 
' are always (except when otherwise permitted) on their 



108 The Agrictdtural Papers of George Washington 

farms, and with their people. Tlie work, under such circum- 
stances, will go on smoothly ; and, that the stock may be well 
fed, littered, and taken care of according to the directions, 
it will be necessary to inspect the conduct of the overseers 
in this particular, and those also whose immediate business 
it is to attend upon them, with a watchful eye; otherwise, 
and generally in severe weather, when attention and care 
are most needed, they will be most neglected. 

Economy in all things is as commendable in the manager, 
as it is beneficial and desirable to the employer; and, on a 
farm, it shows itself in nothing more evidently, or more essen- 
tially, than in not suffering the provender to be wasted, but, 
on the contrary, in taking care that every atom of it be used 
to the best advantage; and, likewise, in not permitting the 
ploughs, harness, and other implements of husbandry, and 
the gears belonging to them, to be unnecessarily exposed, 
trodden under foot, run over by carts, and abused in other 
respects. More good is derived from attending to the minu- 
tiae of a farm, than strikes people at first view; and exam- 
ining the farm-yard fences, and looking into the fields to see 
that nothing is there but what is allowed to be there, is often- 
times the means of producing more good, or at least of 
avoiding more evil, than can be accomplished by riding from 
one working party or overseer to another. I have mentioned 
these things not only because they have occurred to me, but 
because, although apparently trifles, they prove far other- 
wise in the result. 

The account for the present quarter must be made final, as 
an entire new scene will take place afterwards. In doing this, 
advertise in the Alexandria paper for the claims of every 
kind and nature whatsoever against me, to be brought to you 
by the 1st of January, that I may wipe them off*, and begin 
on a fresh score. All balances in my favor must either be 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 109 

received, or reduced to specialties, that there may be no dis- 
putes hereafter. 

I am, Sir, &c. 

RIVER FARM 
DIRECTIONS CONCERNING CROPS FOR THE RIVER FARM, AND 
OPERATIONS THEREON, FOR THE YEAR 1800 

Field No. 1. — Is now partly in wheat; part is to be sown 
with oats; another part may be sown with pease, broad 
cast ; part is in m^eadow, and will remain so ; the most broken, 
washed, and indifferent part is to remain uncultivated, but 
to be harrowed and smoothed in the spring, and the worst 
portions, if practicable, to be covered with litter, straw, 
weeds, or any kind of vegetable rubbish, to prevent them 
from running into gullies. 

No. 2. — One fourth is to be in corn, and to be sown 
with wheat; another fourth in buckwheat and pease, half of 
it in the one, and half in the other, sown in April, to be 
ploughed in as a green dressing, and by actual experiment 
to ascertain which is best. The whole of this fourth is to 
be sown with wheat also; another fourth part is to be naked 
fallow for wheat; and the other and last quarter to be ap- 
propriated for pumpkins, cymlins, turnips, Yateman pease, 
in hills, and such other things of this kind as may be required ; 
and to be sown likewise with rye, after they are taken off, for 
seed. 

No. 3. — Is now in wheat, to be harvested in the year 1800 ; 
the stubble of which, immediately after harvest, is to be 
ploughed in and sown thin with rye; and such parts thereof 
as are low, or produce a luxuriant growth of grain, are to 
have grass-seeds sprinkled over them. The whole for sheep to 
run on in the day (but housed at night) during the winter 
and spring months. If it should be found expedient, part 



110 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

thereof in the spring might be reserved for the purpose of 
seed. 

No. 4. — Will be in corn, and is to be sown in the autumn 
of that year with wheat, to be harvested in 1801 ; and to be 
treated in all respects as has been directed for No. 3, the 
preceding year. It is to be manured as much as the means 
will permit, with such aids as can be produced during the 
present winter and ensuing spring. 

Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8. — Are to remain as they are, but noth- 
ing suffered to run upon them; as ground will be allotted 
for the sole purpose of pasturage, and invariably used as 
such. 

Clover Lots 

No. 1. — Counting from the Spring Branch is to be planted 
in potatoes. 

No. 2. — That part thereof which is now in turnips is to be 
sown with oats and clover ; the other part, being now in clover, 
is to remain so until it comes into potatoes by rotation. 

No. 3. — Is also in clover at present, and is to remain so, 
as just mentioned, for No. 2. 

No. 4. — Is partly in clover and partly in timothy, and so 
to be, until its turn for potatoes. 

The rotation for these lots invariably is to be, 1. Potatoes, 
highly manured ; 2. Oats, and clover sown therewith ; 3. Clover ; 
4. Clover. Then to begin again with potatoes, and proceed 
as before. The present clover lots must be plastered. 

All green sward, rough ground, or that which is heavily 
covered with weeds, bottle-brush grass, and such things as 
being turned in will ferment, putrefy, and meliorate the 
soil, should in autumn be ploughed in, and at such times in 
winter as it can be done while the ground is dry, and in con- 
dition for it. 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington HI 

Pasture Grou/nds 

The large lot adjoining the negro houses and orchard is 
to have oats sown on the potato and pumpkin ground; with 
which, and on the rye also in that lot, and on the melon 
part, orchard grass-seeds are to be sown; and thereafter to 
be kept as a standing calf pasture, and for ewes (which may 
require extra care) at yeaning, or after they have yeaned. 

The other large lot, northeast of the barn lane, is to be 
appropriated always as a pasture for the milch cows, and 
probably working oxen during the summer season. 

The woodland, and the old field commonly called John- 
ston's, are designed for common pasture, and to be so applied 
always. To which, if it should be found inadequate to the 
stock of the farm, field No. 8, and the woodland therein, may 
be added. 

Meadows 

Those already established and in train must continue, and 
the next to be added to them is the arms of the creek, which 
runs up to the spring-house, and forks, both prongs of which 
must be grubbed up, and wrought upon at every convenient 
moment when the weather will permit, down to the line of 
the ditch, which encloses the lots for clover, &c. 

And, as the fields come into cultivation, or as labor can be 
spared from other work, and circumstances will permit, the 
heads of all the inlets in them must be reclaimed, and laid to 
grass, whether they be large or small. Forasmuch as noth- 
ing will run on, or can trespass upon, or injure the grass, no 
fencing is required. 



11^ The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

Mud for Compost 

The season is now too far advanced, and too cold, to be 
engaged in a work, that will expose the hands to wet; but 
it is of such essential importance, that it should be set about 
seriously and with spirit next year, for the summer's sun and 
the winter's frost to prepare it for the corn and other crops 
of 1801. All the hands of the farm, not indispensably en- 
gaged in the crops, should, so soon as corn-planting is com- 
pleted in the spring, be uninterruptedly employed in raising 
mud from the pocosons,^ and from the bed of the creek, into 
the scow; and the carts, so soon as the manure for the corn 
and potatoes in 1800 is carried out, are to be incessantly 
drawing it to the compost heaps in the fields, which are to be 
manured by it. What number of hands can be set apart for 
this all-important work, remains to be considered and decided 
upon. 

Perming Cattle and Folding Sheep 

On the fields intended for wheat, from the first of May, 
when the former should be turned out to pasture, until the 
first of November, when they ought to be housed, must be 
practised invariably; and to do it with regularity and pro- 
priety, the pen for the former, and the fold for the latter, 
should be proportioned to the number of each kind of stock ; 
and both these to as much ground as they will manure suffi- 
ciently in the space of a week for wheat, beyond which they 
are not to remain in a place, except on the poorest spots; 
and even these had better be aided by litter or something 
else, than to depart from an established rule, of removing 
the pens on a certain day in each week. For in this, as in 

"i-^^Pocoson is a word used in Virginia to denote a small swamp or 
marshy place."— Sparks : "Writings of Washington," Vol. XII, p. 363. 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 118 

every thing else, system is essential to carry on business well, 
and with ease. 

Feeding 

The work-horses and mules are always to be in their stalls, 
and all littered and cleaned, when they are out of harness; 
and they are to be plenteously fed with cut straw, and as 
much chopped grain, meal, or bran, with a little salt mixed 
therewith, as will keep them always in good condition for 
work ; seeing also, that they are watered as regularly as they 
are fed; this is their winter feed. For spring, summer, and 
autumn, it is expected, that soiling them on green food, first 
with rye, then with lucerne, and next with clover, with very 
little grain, will enable them to perform their work. 

The oxen and other horned cattle, are to be housed from 
the first of November until the first of May ; and to be fed as 
well as the means on the farm will admit. The first (oxen) 
must always be kept in good condition, housed in the stalls 
designed for them; and the cows (so many of them as can 
find places), on the opposite side. The rest, with the other 
cattle, must be in the newly-erected sheds; and the whole 
carefully watered every day; the ice, in frozen weather, be- 
ing broken, so as to admit them to clean water. 

With respect to the sheep, they must receive the best pro- 
tection that can be given them this winter ; against the next, 
I hope they will be better provided for. 

And with regard to the hogs, the plan must be, to raise a 
given number of good ones, instead of an indiscriminate num- 
ber of indiff^erent ones, half of which die or are stolen before 
the period arrives for putting them up as porkers. To ac- 
complish this, a sufficient number of the best sows should 
be appropriated to the purpose; and so many pigs raised 
from them as will insure the quantity of pork, which the 



114 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

farm ought to furnish. 

Whether it will be most advisable to restrain these hogs 
from running at large or not, can be decided with more pre- 
cision after the result of those now in close pens is better 
known. 

The exact quantity of com used by those which are now 
in pens, should be ascertained and regularly reported, in 
order to learn the result. 

Stables and Farm Pens 

These ought to be kept well littered, and the stalls clean ; as 
well for the comfort of the creatures that are contained in 
them, as for the purpose of manure; but, as straw cannot 
be afforded for this purpose, leaves and such spoiled straw 
or weeds as will not do for food, must serve for the stables ; 
and leaves and cornstalks are all that can be applied to the 
pens. To do this work effectually, let the cornstalks be cut 
down by a few careful people with sharp hoes, so low as 
never to be in the way of scythes at harvest; and, whenever 
the wheat will admit carts to run on it without injury, let 
them be brought off and stacked near the farm pens. In 
like manner, let the people, with their blankets, go every 
evening, or as often as occasion may require, to the nearest 
wood, and fill them with leaves for the purposes above men- 
tioned; bottoming the beds with cornstalks, and covering 
them thick with leaves. A measure of this sort will be, if 
strictly attended to, and punctually performed, of great 
utility in every point of view. It will save food, make the 
cattle lie warm and comfortable, and produce much manure. 
The hogs also in pens must be well bedded in leaves. 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 115 

Fencing 

As stock of no kind, according to this plan, will be suffered 
to run on the arable fields or clover lots (except sheep in 
the day on the rye fields, as has been mentioned before), par- 
tition fences between the fields, until they can be raised of 
quicks, may be dispensed with. But it is of great importance, 
that all the exterior or outer fences should be substantially 
good ; and those also, which divide the common or woodland 
pasture from the fields and clover lots, are to be very re- 
spectable. 

To accomplish this desirable object in as short a time as 
possible, and with the smallest expense of timber, the post- 
and-rail fence which runs from the negro quarters, or rather 
from the corner of the lot enclosing them, up to the division 
between fields Nos. 7 and 8, may be placed on the bank 
(which must be raised higher) running to the creek. In like 
manner, the fence from the gate, which opens into No. 2, quite 
down to the river, along the Cedar Hedge-row, as also those 
rails which are between Nos. 1 and 2, and between No. ^ and 
No. 3, may all be taken away, and applied to the outer 
fences, and the fences of the lanes from the barn into the 
woodland pasture, and from the former (the barn) into No. 5 ; 
for the fences of all these lanes must be good, as the stock 
must have a free passage along them at all times, from the 
barn-yard to the woodland pasture. 

All the fencing from the last-mentioned place (between me 
and Mr. Mason), until it joins Mr. Lear's farm, and thence 
with the line between him and me, until it comes to the river, 
will require to be substantially good; at its termination on 
the river, dependence must be placed in a water fence ; for if 
made of common rails, they would be carried off by boatmen 
for firewood. The fences separating fields No. 1 and No. 8 



116 The Agricultural Papers of George Wanhmgton 

from the woodland pasture must also be made good, to prevent 
depredations on the fields by my own stock. 

....---^ ^ Crops, ^c. for 1801 \4j^ tij-'^^^^'^i^^ 

j No. 5 is to be in corn, and to be invariably in that article. 

j It is to be planted (if drills are thought to be ineligible until 
the ground is much improved) in rows six feet by four, or 
seven feet by three and a half, the wide part open to the south. 

J These hills are to be manured as highly as the means will ad- 

jmit; and the corn planted every year in the middle of the 
fowTof the preceding year; by doing which, and mixing the 
manure and earth by the plough and other workings, the 
whole in time will be enriched. 

j The washed and gullied parts of this field should be lev- 

^ elled, and as much improved as possible, or left uncultivated. 

^Although it is more broken than some of the other fields, it 

has its advantages. 1st, It has several inlets extending into 

it, with easy ascents therefrom ; secondly, it is convenient to 

I the mud in the bed of the creek, whensoever (by means of the 

/scow) resort is had thereto, and has good landing-places;! 
and, thirdly, it is as near to the barn as any other, when a 
bridge and causeway shall be made over the Spring Branch. 
To these may be added, that it is more remote from squirrels 
than any other. 

j— -p^Q^ 6 and No. 7, or such part thereof as is not so much 

/ washed or gullied, as to render ploughing ineligible, are to 
be fallowed for wheat. One of which, if both cannot, is to 
have the stubble ploughed in and sown with rye, and the low 
""^ and strong parts to have timothy or orchard grass seeds, 
perhaps both, in different places, sprinkled over them, for 
the purpose of raising seed. On the rye pasture the sheep are 

I to be fed in winter and spring, and treated in all respects as 
No. 3 in 1800. 



The Agrictdtural Papers of George Washington 117 

In the years 1802, 1803, and so on 

The com ground remaining the same, two fields, in the 
following numbers, will be fallowed for wheat, and treated in 
all respects as mentioned above; and if pumpkins, cymlins, 
turnips, pease, and such like growth, are found beneficial to 
the land, or useful and profitable to the stock, ground may 
readily be found for them. 

These are the great outlines of a plan, and the operations 
of it, for the next year, and for years to come, for the River 
Farm. To carry it into effect advantageously, it becomes 
tlie indispensable duty of him, who is employed to overlook and 
conduct the operations, to take a prospective and comprehen- 
sive view of the whole business, which is laid before him, that 
the several parts thereof may be so ordered and arranged, 
as that one sort of work may follow another sort in proper 
succession, and without loss of labor or of time ; for nothing 
is a greater waste of the latter, and consequently of the 
former (time producing labor, and labor money), than shift- 
ing from one thing to another before it is finished, as if chance 
or the impulse of the moment, not judgment and foresight, 
directed the measure. It will be acknowledged, that weather 
and other circumstances may at times interrupt a regular 
course of proceedings ; but, if a plan is well digested before- 
hand, they cannot interfere long, with a man who is ac- 
quainted with the nature of the business, and the crops he 
is to attend to. 

Every attentive and discerning person, who has the whole 
business of the year laid before him, and is acquainted with 
the nature of the work, can be at no loss to lay it out to 
advantage. There are many sorts of in-doors work, which 
can be executed in hail, rain, or snow, as well as in sunshine; 
and if they are set about in fair weather (unless there be a 



118 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

necessity for it), there will be nothing to do in foul weather; 
the people therefore must be idle. The man of prudence 
and foresight will always keep these things in view, and 
order his work accordingly, so as to suffer no waste of time, 
or idleness. These same observations apply with equal force 
to frozen ground, and to ground too wet to work in, or which, 
if worked, will be injured thereby. 

These observations might be spun to a greater length, but 
they are sufficient to produce reflection; and reflection, with 
industry and proper attention, will produce the end that is 
to be wished. 

There is one thing, however, I cannot forbear to add, and 
in strong terms ; it is, that whenever I order a thing to be 
done, it must be done, or a reason given at the time, or as 
soon as the impracticability is discovered, why it cannot be 
done, which will produce a countermand or change. But it 
is not for the person receiving the order to suspend, or dis- 
pense with, its execution ; and, after it has been supposed to 
have gone into eff^ect, to tell me, that nothing has been done 
in it, that it will be done, or that it could not be done ; either 
of these is unpleasant and disagreeable to me, having been 
all my life accustomed to more regularity and punctuality. 
Nothing but system and method are required to accomplish 
any reasonable requests. 

'"* UNION FARM 



&i«M:'~» 



DIRECTIONS CONCERNING CROPS FOR THE UNION FARM, AND 
OPERATIONS THEREON, FOR THE YEAR 1800 

Field No. 1. — Is now sown with wheat, to be harvested in 
1800; the stubble of which is to be immediately ploughed 
in, and rye sowed thereon for a sheep pasture. Grass-seeds 
must be sown therewith, on such parts as will yield grass 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 119 

for seed, to supply my own wants, and the market, so far as 
it can be spared. This field, after the rye has been eaten off 
by the sheep, is to be kept from the stock of all kinds, and 
nothing suffered to run thereon, until it comes, in course, to 
be cultivated, in the regular routine of crops. 

No. 2, — Will be in corn, and, although but an indifferent 
field, washed in some places, gullied in others, and rich in 
none, is, all things considered, best to be appropriated con- 
stantly for this crop. First, and specially, because it is 
most contiguous to the barn, and the corn therein more easily 
secured and attended to. Secondly, because it is as handy 
to the mud from the pocoson and the bed of the creek as any 
other, to mix in a compost, and more convenient to the manure 
from the farm-yard and stables. Thirdly, because it is en- 
tirely out of the reach of squirrels. And, fourthly, because 
it is hoped and expected, from the manner of treating it, that 
it will be so much amended as to become more and more pro- 
ductive every year, and the impoverished places, if not re- 
stored to some degree of fertility, prevented from getting 
worse, and becoming such eye-sores as they now are. 

The corn will be planted in rows, six feet by four, or seven 
by three and a half ; the wide part open to the south. It must 
be as highly manured in the hill as the means on the farm 
(respect being had to other species of crops) will admit. 
The rows of the succeeding year will be in the middle of the 
last, and alternately shifted ; by which means, and the work- 
ings the field will yearly receive, the whole will be enriched, 
and, it is hoped, restored. 

No. 3. — As No. S is to be appropriated as a standing field 
for corn, and of course cannot be sown with wheat in the 
autumn of 1800, this field, that is. No. 3, ought, if it be prac- 
ticable, to be fallowed, and sown with that article ; otherwise 
the farm will produce no wheat the following year, and the 



120 The Agricultural Papers of George Washmgton 

stock must suffer for want of the straw ; and it is to be treated 
in every respect as has been directed for No. 1, that is, the 
stubble to be ploughed in immediately after harvest, and rye 
sowed thereon, with grass-seeds where the soil is strong 
enough to rear them, for the purpose of producing seed 
again. 

No. 4. — The part thereof which lies northeast of the mea- 
dow, commonly called Manley's Field, is to remain well en- 
closed, and no stock suffered to run thereon until it comes 
in rotation to be fallowed for wheat in 1801. The other 
part of the same No. 4* is to be equally well enclosed, and kept 
from stock ; and, except the part along Muddy-Hole Branch 
(which is to be added to No. 5, in order to supply the de- 
ficiency occasioned by taking the clover lot No. 2 from it), 
is to be planted with peach trees, at sixteen feet and a half 
asunder, except so much of it as lies flat, by the gate on the 
Mill road, which, if properly prepared, it is supposed would 
bring grass, and on that account is to be planted at double 
that distance, namely, at thirty-three feet apart. What is 
here meant by enclosing this part of No. 4 well, is, that the 
outer fence shall be secure, for it will remain as now undivided 
from No. 3, otherwise than by the Branch. 

No. 5. — Is also to be kept for stock ; and, when it comes 
in course to be fallowed for wheat, is to have the addition 
above mentioned, along the Branch, added thereto, and sown 
in this article. 

No. 6. — Will receive such an addition to its size from No. 
7, as will make it, exclusive of the lot for clover, lucerne, &c., 
of equal size thereto. Part of this field is now sown with, and 
will be in wheat in 1800. Part will be in oats, particularly 
where the pease grew ; and all that part of it, and No. 7 also, 
which lies low, from the meadow fence by the overseer's house, 
quite up to the head springs of the Branch, reclaimed in the 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 121 

spring, is to be planted with rare-ripe corn ; and in the fall to 
be treated in every respect as the great meadow at this farm 
(but at an earlier period) has been this year. For, although 
I am not sanguine enough to expect, that it will make good 
mowing meadow, I shall be much disappointed if it does not 
produce grass, yielding a good deal of seed, which, until the 
fields come into cultivation, in regular rotation, and after- 
wards, if it answer expectation, will be an annual profit with- 
out any other labor than gathering it. The other part of 
No. 6, which will be taken from No. 7, lying south of this 
low ground between it and No. 1, might, if it does not involve 
too much ploughing, be put in com also ; but this is a mea- 
sure, which will require consideration, and probably must de- 
pend upon circumstances. The poor and washed parts of 
No. 6 must remain uncultivated ; but ought, if it be practica- 
ble, to be levelled, harrowed, and such trash of some kind to 
be thrown thereon, as will keep them from growing worse. 

No. 7. — Some parts of this fields may be sown with buck- 
wheat, in no great quantity, and a part may be planted 
with the Yateman pease, in hills, both for a crop ; some of the 
other kind of pease may be sown broad-cast, and mowed at a 
proper season for the stock. The rest of the ground, by 
lying uncultivated, and nothing running thereon, will be in- 
creasing in strength while idle. 

Clover Lots 

No. 1. — Next the overseer's house, same side of the lane 
(excepting the ground now in and designed for lucerne, south 
of the slash by the barn, and two acres where the turnips 
grew, or at the other end for experiments) is to be in oats, 
and to be sown with clover seed. 

No. 2. — Opposite thereto, and at present part of No. 5, is 
to be well manured and planted with potatoes; whether in 



122 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

hills, or drills, may be considered. 

No. 3. — May receive pumpkins, cymlins, turnips, and mel- 
ons, there being no sown grass remaining on it ; and the ma- 
nure for, and shade occasioned by, these vines, together with 
the working the lot will get, will be of service instead of a det- 
riment to the potato crop which will follow. 

No. 4. — Is to remain in clover, until, by rotation, it comes 
into potatoes again. 

The rotation for these lots is uniformly to be, 1. Potatoes, 
highly manured ; 2. oats, and clover sown therewith ; 3. clover ; 
4. clover. Then to begin again with potatoes, and proceed as 
before. 

The present clover lots must be plastered. 

All green sward, rough ground, or that which is heavily 
covered with weeds, bottle-brush grass, and such things as by 
being turned in will ferment, putrefy, and ameliorate the soil, 
should in the autumn be ploughed in, and at such time in 
winter as it can be done while the ground is dry and in condi- 
tion for working. 

Pasture Ground 

As stock of all sorts, except sheep upon the rye, are to be 
excluded from the arable fields and clover lots, resort must be 
had to the woodland and unreclaimed swamps therein for 
pasture for them ; and this will be provided by a fence extend- 
ing from the southwest corner of Muddy-Hole field No. 2, to 
the southeast corner of Dogue-Run field No. 4, leaving all 
south of it for this farm ; as the north part will be for Muddy- 
Hole farm ; and, as it will be for the mutual benefit of both 
farms, the fence must be erected at the joint expense of both. 

Fencmg 
The one just mentioned must be completed in the course 
of the winter; and every possible exertion must be made to 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 1^3 

strengthen, and render substantially good, the whole of the 
exterior or outer fence of the farm. To do this, and to 
avoid all unnecessary consumption of timber, the partition 
fence between the fields No. 6 and No. 7, as it now stands, 
quite up to the woods, and thence to the fence leading from 
the Ferry to the Mill road from the Mansion-House, may be 
taken away and applied to that fence, and to the trunnel- 
fence on the Mill road, where they unite, until it comes to 
the meadow fence at the bridge ; leaving the fields No. 6 and 
No. 7, and the woodland adjoining, under one enclosure. In 
like manner, the fences dividing No. 1 from No. 2, and No. 2 
from No. 3, may be used for a fence around the creek, until 
it unites with that opposite to the Mill house ; without which 
neither of those fields will be secure, as hogs have been taught, 
or of themselves have learnt, to cross the creek in pursuit of 
food. For strengthening effectually the fence from the plank 
bridge by the Barn lane to the Branch opposite to the Mill 
house, new rails must be got in the nearest wood between the 
Mill road and the road leading to the Gum Spring. 

The west fence of No. 5 must, next year, or as soon as it 
can be accomplished, be removed across the Branch, and 
placed in a line with the new ditch fence of the lower meadow, 
until it comes in range with the south line of the said field ; and, 
until a fence is run from the end thereof to the nearest 
part of the outer fence opposite to the Mill, and a second 
gate established thereat, or until that intercourse between 
the Barn and Mill is effectually barred, which would be the 
cheapest and most convenient mode, there would be no se- 
curity for any crop growing in fields Nos. 1, 2, and 3, as leav- 
ing the gate by the Mill run open only five minutes might 
deluge the whole with the hogs at that place ; and they might 
be there a night or two, perhaps more, before they were dis- 
covered, and do irreparable damage. Indeed, the latter 



124 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

mode has so much the advantage of the former, especially 
as my intercourse with the Mill will in a great measure cease, 
that I see no cause to hesitate a moment in adopting it ; and, 
to prevent opening the fence where the gate now is, a deep 
ditch and a high bank would be necessary, from some dis- 
tance below to the foot of the hill above, if not quite up to 
the meadow. One among other advantages resulting from 
this measure would be, that the west and even south fence 
of No. 5 might, if occasion required it, be applied, instead of 
new rails, in making the fence from the meadow towards 
the Mill, and around the creek, more substantial; for it must 
be repeated again, that, as there will be few or no inner fences, 
the outer ones must be unassailable by the most vicious stock. 
The fences that are already around the meadows may re- 
main, but there is no occasion for their being formidable. To 
guard them against hogs, if any should by chance get through 
the outer fence, is all that would be necessary. 

Meadows 

The large meadow below the Barn lane, and half of that 
above the lane, have had every thing done for them that is 
requisite, except manuring when necessary and the means are 
to be had. The remaining part of the last-mentioned mea- 
dow above must receive a complete summer fallow, to cleanse 
it of rubbish of all sorts, and be sown in proper season with 
timothy, with a protecting crop of rye for soiling the work- 
ing mules in the spring. 

Although I may find myself mistaken, I am inclined to put 
the other prong of this swamp, running through No. 6 and 
heading in No. 7, into meadow ; and I have for this reason al- 
ready directed the mode to be pursued for accomplishing it. 
Next to this, let as much of the inlet in No. 2 as can be laid 
dry enough for corn, be planted therewith, in order to erad- 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 125 

icate the wild growth. When this is effected, lay it to grass. 
As the fields come round, the unreclaimed inlets may be pre- 
pared for grass, if circumstances and the force of the farm 
will admit of it. Of these there is one, besides a swamp in 
No. 3, which is susceptible of being converted into good grass 
ground ; and the flat and low ground in No. 4, it is presumed, 
would bring grass also. Whether the part proposed to be 
added to field No. 5 had better be retained for arable uses, or 
laid to meadow, can be determined better after it is cleared, 
and cleaned of the wild growth, than now. But the inlets at 
the Ferry, between the dwelling and fish houses, might, by a 
small change of the fence from the gate of No. 1, be thrown 
into that field and brought into excellent meadow at very 
little expense, whensoever time and labor can be afforded for 
this purpose. To dwell on the advantages of meadow would 
be a mere waste of time, as the produce is always in demand 
in the market and for my purposes, and obtained at no other 
expense, than that of cutting the grass and making it into 
hay. 

Crops, (^c, for 1801 

No. 2. — Being the field appropriated for corn, will be 
planted with this article accordingly, as already directed for 
1800 ; the poor and washed parts continuing to receive all 
the aid that can be given to them. 

No. 3. — Supposing it to have been fallowed and sown the 
year before, will this year produce a crop of wheat, the stub- 
ble of which, immediately after harvest, is to be turned in, and 
be sown with rye for the benefit of sheep in the day, during 
winter and spring, but which are to be housed at night. All 
the low and rich spots, capable of producing grass, must be 
sown with timothy or orchard-grass seeds, for the purpose of 
supplying seeds again ; and a part of the field may be re- 



126 The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

served for a rye crop, or the sheep taken off early enough for 
the whole to yield enough of this grain to pay for the harvest- 
ing of it. 

Nos. 4 and 5. — That part of No. 4f, which lies next to the 
Mill, is, as has been directed already, to be planted with peach 
trees ; the other part, called Manley's Field, with all that can 
be added to it, not exceeding forty acres, of woodland adjoin- 
ing No. 6, and the upper meadow below the plank bridge, are 
to be fallowed for wheat, as No. 5 also is to be, with the addi- 
tion at the west end taken from No. 4* ; and both of them, 
if it can be accomplished, but one certainly, must have the 
stubble, when the wheat comes off, sowed with rye for the 
sheep, and with grass-seeds upon low and rich places, for the 
purpose of raising seed. They are to be treated in all other 
respects as has been directed for No. 3. 

The reason for preferring an addition to No. 4 from the 
woods east of the meadow, although the land is of inferior 
quality, is, because it requires no additional fencing, for the 
same fence that enclosed Nos. 6 and 7 encompasses this also ; 
because it will be more convenient for supplying the Mansion 
with fire-wood; and because it will give a better form and 
appearance to the farm, than breaking into the woodland on 
the north side of the Mill road. 

Crops for 1802, 1803, and so on. 

The corn ground remaining the same always, two fields, 
in following numbers, will every year be fallowed for wheat, 
and treated in all respects as has been mentioned before. 
And, if pumpkins, cymlins, turnips, and such like growths are 
found beneficial to the land, or useful and profitable for 
stock, places enough may be found to raise them in. 

All unnecessary wood is to be cut down, and removed from 
the fields, as they are cultivated in rotation. 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 127 

Mud and Rich Earth for Composts^ 

Penning Cattle and Folding Sheep, 

Feeding, 

Stables and Farm Pens, 

are all to be managed precisely as is directed for River Farm. 



18 
FOUR TABLES OF CROP ROTATION 1793-1799. 

These tables are here inserted to show with what prodigious 
industry Washington studied the rotation of his crops look- 
ing for the greatest yield with the least investment. These 
tables were apparently made for comparative purposes, in an 
effort to discover which system of rotation would give the best 
results. 

Jared Sparks in his " Writings of Washington " (1837) 
Vol. XII, p. 374, makes the following statement concerning 
these tables : — 

" To understand the tables of Rotation of Crops which 
follow, it should be observed, that they all apply to one and 
the same farm, which contained 525 acres, and was divided 
into seven fields. The first part of each table indicates the 
kind of products destined for each field, under the respective 
years. Then follow the times for ploughing the different 
fields, and the number of days it will take ; next, an estimate of 
the probable quantity and value of the products ; lastly, re- 
marks on the plan of the table, and on the results of the rota- 
tion. 

" In a note attached to these tables, Washington says : 
' The ploughing is calculated at three fourths of an acre per 
day. If, then, one plough will go over a seventy-five acre 
field in one hundred days, five ploughs will do it in twenty 
days. In some ground, according to the state of it, and the 
seasons, an acre at least ought to be ploughed per day by 
each team; but the estimate is made at three fourths of ah 
acre, in order to reduce it to more certainty. The fields are 
all estimated at seventy -five acres each (although they run a 
little more or less), for the sake of more easy calculation of 
the crops, and to show their comparative yield.' " 

128 



The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 1J89 



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19 
EXTRACT FROM WASHINGTON'S DIARY — 

Dec. 7 to 13 (Inclusive) 1799. 

This extract is added to the collection to indicate the way 
in which Washington kept up his diary even to the night be- 
fore he died. It shows what a keen observer he was, and how 
painstaking in recording his observations. 

It was during the night of the 12th that he was attacked 
by the illness from which he died on the 14th of December, 
1799. 

EXTRACT FROM A DIARY FOR DECEMBER, 1799. 

December 7th. — Rainy morning, with the wind at north ; 
mercury at 37. Afternoon, clear and pleasant ; wind west- 
erly. Mercury 41 at night. Dined at Lord Fairfax's. 

8th. — Morning perfectly clear, calm, and pleasant; but 
about nine o'clock the wind came from the northwest and blew 
frost. Mercury 38 in the morning, and 40 at night. 

9th. — Morning clear and pleasant, with a light wind from 
northwest. Mercury at 33. Pleasant all day; afternoon 
cahn. Mercury 39 at night. Mr. Howell Lewis and wife set 
off on their return home after breakfast ; and Mr. Lawrence 
Lewis and Washington Custis, on a journey to New Kent. 

10th. — Morning clear and calm; mercury at 31. After- 
noon lowering ; mercury at 42, and wind brisk from the south- 
ward. A very large hoar-frost this morning. 

11th. — But little wind, and raining. Mercury 44 in the 
morning, and 38 at night. About nine o'clock the wind 
shifted to the northwest, and it ceased raining, but continued 

141 



14S The Agricultural Papers of George Washington 

cloudy. Lord Fairfax, his son Thomas, and daughter, Mrs. 
Warner Washington and son Whiting, and Mr. John Her- 
bert, dined here, and returned after dinner. 

12th, — Morning cloudy ; wind at northeast ; mercury 33. 
A large circle round the moon last night. About one o'clock 
it began to snow; soon after, to hail, and then turned to a 
settled cold rain. Mercury 28 at night. 

13th. — Morning snowing, and about three inches deep. 
Wind at northeast, and mercury at 30. Continued snowing 
till one o'clock, and about four it became perfectly clear. 
Wind in the same place, but not hard. Mercury 28 at night. 



INDEX 



Agriculture, Board of, 100 
England, 22, 40 

United States, 21, 22, 39, 100, 104 
Agricultural Society, 38 
Anderson, James, 106 
Annals of Agriculture, 22, 26, 38, 
39, 40, 41 
^Artichoke, Jerusalem, 33 

Barley, 18, 19, 27, 29, 30, 32, 40, 53, 

54, 58, 76, 101, 102 
Barns, 49 
a Beans, 27, 39, 40, 103 
Biddle, Clement, 31 
Bland, Theodoric, 34 
Bricklaying, 18 
Brickwork, 50 
V Buckwheat, 52, 54, 55, 56, 59, 93, 

94, 109, 121 
Burnet, 22 

* Cabbage, 23, 75 
.Carrots, 19, 54, 55, 59, 60 

-Cattle, 40, 41, 42, 87 ff., l(H, 109, 
110-113 
•Chicory, 92 ff. 
Clay, 27, 76 
Clearing, 74, 79 
Clover, 93, 103, 110, 121, 123 
Compost, 112, 119 
Convention, Constitutional, 37 

* Corn, 18, 19, 34, 35, 39, 41, 42, 52, 

53, 54, 55, 58, 59, 61, 76, 88, 93, 
101, 110, 111, 113, 116, 117, 
119, 121, 124, 125, 126 
Cropping, 24, 40, 43, 76 
Crops, for 1801, 116 ff., 125 ff. 
For 1802, 1803, 126 
River Farm, 109 
Rotation of, 39, 40, 106 
Statements of, 62 ff. 



Cymlins, 109, 117, 122, 126 

Diary of Washington, 141 
Dogue Run, 18, 19, 50, 52, 53, 54, 
56, 59, 78, 85, 91, 122 

^England, Agriculture in, 22, 40 
Implements ordered, 23 
Estates, free-hold, 99 

Fairfax, John, 44 

Farm, contents, 91* 

Farm-yard plan, 27 

Feeding, 113 

Fencing, 53, 57, 59, 77, 103, 108, 

115, 120, 122 ff., 126 
Ferry, 19, 49, 50 

Fertilizer (see) Buckwheat, Com- 
post, Manure, Mud, Stubble 
Flax, 55, 56, 59 
Flour, 78 

Garden, botanical, 51 
Grain, 49 
^ Grapes, 75 
Grass, 17, 19, 22, 23, 29, 40, 48, 49, 
58, 61, 74, 77, 99, 103, 104, 109, 

116, 118, 120, 125, 126 
Grass, orchard, 61, 104, 125 

Harrow, 35 
'' Triangular, 42, 43 
, Harrowing, 18, 19, 22, 43 

Harvesting, 48, 49 

Hedges (see fencing) 

Hessian fly, 78 
iHogs, 113, 114, 123 ' ^..^ 

Horses, 113 v^"^ 

, Husbandry, 22, 24, 40, 41, 43, 76, 
104 



Jefferson, Thomas, 92 



143 



lU 



Index 



Labor, price of, 41 
Land, recovered, 48 
Loam, 27, 83 
Locusts, honey, 50 
Lucerne, 120, 121 

Machine, barley, 30 
Maize, 39, 88 
Management, 44, 45, 104 

Farms, 101, 104 ff., 106 

System, 104 ff. 

Mt. Vernon, 47 
Manager, Reports, 62 ff. 
Mansion House, 53, 74, 123 

Farm, 60, 82 
Manure, 18, 19, 38, 47, 48, 52, 57, 



Plan, barn, 39 

Farm-yard, 27 
Plantations, 45, 59, 81 ff. 
Planter, 34 ff. 
Ploughman, 39 
Plow, 22, 38, 39, 56, 59, 75 

Barrel, 34 

Drill, 18, 34 

Rotherham, 03 
Plowing, 42, 93, 94, 118, 121, 130, 

133, 136, 139 
Potatoes, 19, 42, 54, 56, 59, 60, 94, 

110, 121, 122 
Price, cows, 41 

Seeds, 40 
Pulse, 93 



58, 60, 76, 110, 116, 121, 122, , Pumpkins, 56, 109, 117, 122, 126 
124 



Bean, 103 

Buckwheat, 52, 55, 58, 82, 109 
McHenry, 96 
Meadows, 111, 124, 125 
Melons, 122 

Meteorological Table, 68 
" Mill," 37, 41 
Millet, 18 

Mount Vernon, 37, 47, 52, 81 ff. 
Mud, compost, 60, 112, 119 
Muddy Hole, 17, 18, 19, 22, 49, 52, 

53, 56, 78, 85, 91, 120, 122 
Mulberry, 75 
Mules, 113 

Neck, The, 18, 19, 22, 49 

Oats, 17, 18, 19, 27, 34, 53, 54, 58,, 
75, 95, 100, 101, 102, 109, 110, 
116 ff., 120, 121 

Oyster shells, 50 

Pasture, 111, 118, 122 

Pea, 93, 94, 101 

Peach Trees, 120 

Pease, 19, 22, 34, 40, 55, 56, lOP, 

117, 120, 121 
Pens, 114 

Peters, Richard, 42 
Peters, Thomas, 29 



, Repairs, 49 

Reports of Manager, 62 ff. 
River Farm, 58, 85, 91, 109, 117 
Road-making, 49 
Rollers, 103 
Rolling, 18 

Rotation, Crops, 39, 76, 93, 95, 101, 
106, 109 ff., 116 ff., 118 ff. 
Plantations, 52 ff., 85 
Tables (Four), 128 ff. 
jRye, 23, 29, 32, 40, 109, 116, 119, 
122, 124, 126 

Sainfoin, 23, 27 

Sand, 27 

Seeds, 27, 40, 50, 102 

Artichoke, 32 

Barley, 30, 32 

Beans, 27, 39 

Burnet, 23 

Cabbage, 23 

Clover, 23, 30, 32, 50 

Oats, 27 

Rye, 23 

Sainfoin, 27, 39 

Timothy, 34, 50 

Turnip, 23 

Vetch, 23 

Wheat, 27 



/ 



J 

i 



Index 



145 



Sheep, 41, 109, 112, 113, 116, 118, Timothy, 34, 50, 54, 55, 110, 116, 

124, 125 
Tobacco, 39, 48, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 
60,61 
♦ Turnips, 17, 23, 56, 109, 1^1, 122, 
126 



125 
Society, Agricultural, 38 
Soil, 18, Id, 27 
Sowing, Barley, 18, 55 

Buckwheat, 54, 56 

Carrots, 19, 55 

Clover, 54, 55 

Com, 18, 19, 35, 55 

Flax, 55 

Grain, 49 

Grass, 19, 49 

Millet, 18, 19 

Oats, 17, 18, 19, 55 

Pease, 19, 22 

Potatoes, 19, 56 

Pumpkins, 56 

Rye, 54 

Timothy, 54, 55 

Turnips, 56 

Wheat, 18, 19, 49, 54 
Stables, 114 
Staple, 27 

Statements, specimen, 62 ff . 
Stock, 24, 33, 45, 53, 54, 57, 79, 108, Wheat, Cape, 17 

115, 117, 120, 122 Siberian, 18, 19 

Strickland, William, 98 Velvet, 27 

Stubble, 109, 118, 120, 125 Whiting, Anthony, 73 ff. 

Succory, 93 
System, Management, 104 ff., 106 ff. Yield, 32, 40, 93, 134, 137 

Young, Arthur, 21, 26, 34, 37, 38, 
Taxes, 50 81 

Thresher, 37, 41 



Union Farm, 84, 91, 118 

Vetch, European, 101 
Winter, 23, 92 ff. 

Wages, ploughman, 94 

Workman, 50 
Washington, Character of, 31, 42, 

44, 47, 52 
Washington, George A. (nephew), 

47 
Waste, 48, 49 
Weevil, 95 
Welch Wakelin, 24 
Wheat, 29, 32, 34, 39, 40, 48, 49, 

59, 6% 76, 95, 104, 109, 110, 

112, 118, 119, 120, 126 









A 



